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Man Sought For Attack On Female UMass Amherst Student

AMHERST (CBS) - Students at the state's largest university are on edge after a co-ed at UMass Amherst claimed a man grabbed and pinned her up against a wall.

The Sunday evening incident had led police to beef up patrols.

Police say just after 5 p.m. Sunday evening, a female student was approached by a young man who asked if she needed a ride home. She said no, "He then reached behind her and grabbed the backpack that was on her shoulders and dragged her about ten feet and pushed her up against the wall of Herter Hall," explains Deputy Chief Patrick Archbald of the UMass Amherst Police Department.

WBZ-TV's Diana Perez reports

After a brief struggle she broke free and escaped. The victim wasn't hurt and the attacker didn't show a weapon, touch her inappropriately or try to force her into a car so right now this is only being looked at as assault and battery.

"It's just a little scary, it's a really big campus and we feel safe walking from cross campus to get to class. So something like this to happen is kind of rare," says Junior Samantha Santiago.

The school got the word out quickly via texts and e-mail But students like senior Peter Ding say he is still worried when his girlfriend walks to class alone, "This university campus has a lot of young girls who live and work around here so campus safety is very important."

The last time something like this happened here on campus was in 2010 and police were able to make a quick arrest. In this case police say they are working on a few leads.

Anyone with information is asked to call UMass police at 413-545-2121.

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