London police are again urging university and college students to lock their doors, even when they are at home, after a string of bizarre and violent break-ins and assaults.
The latest incident happened at a home on Patricia St. around 12:15am on Saturday and saw two women, who were not known to the resident, walk inside the home. When asked to leave, one of the women assaulted the resident and a large group of other people forced their way into the home, sparking a large fight.
The resident of the home suffered minor injuries. The alleged attackers were gone by the time officers arrived.
Police say they have been called to several similar incidents over the past two weeks involving large groups of people, consisting of both men and women, assaulting others or breaking into homes. They are asking students to keep their doors and windows locked at all times.
Last month, police issued a similar warning after students at a home on Thurman Circle found a strange man in their basement around 12:45am on October 9. About 20 minutes later, another group of students spotted a man crawling out of a basement window of their Fleming Dr. home. In both cases the suspect met up with a group of people and students were either threatened or assaulted.
A 17-year-old male was charged with assault and break and enter in connection to the Thurman Circle incident.
“While we know that homes that are occupied by students are being targeted, the previous incidents were only in the area of Fanshawe College,” said Detective Sergeant Blair Harvey. “The incident this past weekend was in the area of Western University which means that all post-secondary students in our community need to be extra vigilant.”
Anyone with information in relation to these incidents is asked to call police at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).