Recent Assaults Target Women

Friday, October 30, 1998

CAMPUS: Necessity to be vigilant, report problems emphasized by incidents

By Ann Hawkey

Daily Bruin Contributor

As women on campus go for their nightly run, walk to their car after a long day or wait for a bus that's always running late, they might not realize that they could be targets for a number of crimes.

On Oct. 18, the university police department (UCPD) received an unusually high number of calls reporting crimes against women, each allegedly involving the same suspect.

One call reported an attempted kidnapping of a jogger on Veteran Avenue, and three other calls reported incidents of lewd conduct, on both Veteran Avenue and Hilgard Avenue.

The calls were all received within an hour of each other, and each woman provided a description of the suspect as well as his car.

One woman was also able to provide a license plate number, which gave police a name and address of the suspect, 35-year-old Donald Boomhower.

Boomhower was arrested the next day while leaving his home in Culver City.

To try to prevent further crimes like this, UCPD offers several programs focusing on women's safety. The department offers educational presentations, information about crime prevention techniques and various safety tips.

"We work with a lot of centers on campus - the women's resource center, the dorms, sororities - and we have educational programs available for any group that is interested," said Nancy Greenstein, director of the community services division at the UCPD. "We work with groups and identify their unique issues and then personalize our programs."

UCPD offers tips for safety in the workplace, on the bus, at the bus stop, in parking lots and on the street.

Some basic tips involve being aware of your surroundings, knowing self-defense techniques and avoiding dangerous situations.

Also, the way women respond to crimes when they happen can make an important difference in identifying the criminals and helping prevent future crimes.

Remembering any details in a crime, from a description of the suspect to the type of car used, can help police apprehend suspects.

"It really helped tie the cases together that they were all able to give the car description," said UCPD detective Terry Brown. "Also, the fact that all of these women reported it within 45 minutes - all of that was extremely helpful."

Boomhower is now being charged with one count of assault with intent to commit rape, one count of attempted kidnapping and three counts of indecent exposure.

Boomhower posted his $100,000 bail and is awaiting his pretrial hearing, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 30.

One of the victims said she did not realize how serious the incident was until she talked to the police and found out about the other victims.

"I didn't think too much of the incident that night," she said. "I called the police just to let them know that (some) guy was out there.

"I got pretty shaken up knowing he tried to kidnap someone," she said. "He didn't touch me or anything, but it could have been much more serious."

Even if the incident does not seem to be a major crime, anyone who seems suspicious should be reported to UCPD, Greenstein said.

"If there's someone who for some reason makes you fearful, it's best to call us," Greenstein said. "It's our job; we're here 24 hours a day. It's really easy for us to just radio out to one of our patrol cars to check on it."

Brown said although there is no evidence of other crimes of this type committed that day, crimes of this nature often go unreported.

"Whether they feel like they were actually hurt or not, it's still a crime and we would encourage them to report anything - from indecent exposure to the more serious level, like what happened in the (alleged) kidnapping," Brown said.

Despite the relatively low occurrence of this type of crime, the victim said she still does not feel completely safe on campus.

"The first couple of days after it happened were pretty difficult," she said. "I was really scared walking around campus. I didn't feel safe anywhere."

"Just because they put (this suspect) in jail doesn't mean there isn't somebody else out there that could do the same thing," she said.JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

Campus safety is a concern after an alleged attempted kidnapping of a woman jogging alone.

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