Authorities: CSUF student now reports she was raped off-campus, not in university garage elevator

FULLERTON — Cal State Fullerton police said Wednesday a student who reported being raped in a campus parking garage elevator later said that the alleged attack occurred somewhere off campus, possibly in Yorba Linda.

“After further investigation and working with the survivor we found out that it actually did not occur on the campus, but it occurred somewhere else in the county of Orange,” said Cal State Fullerton police Capt. Scot Willey.

Willey declined to say where investigators believe the sexual assault occurred, but Carrie Braun, spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said campus police believe the attack happened somewhere in Yorba Linda.

“We’ve just been recently notified of this so our investigators are en route to speak to Cal State Fullerton police and the victim,” Braun said.

Willey said police “absolutely believe a rape did occur, we just know now it did not occur in our jurisdiction.”

The woman told police Tuesday she was sexually assaulted in an elevator just after midnight in the Nutwood parking structure, Willey said. She said the attacker followed her into the elevator and attacked her, Willey said. She told police that when the elevator doors opened again, she pushed her attacker off and ran to safety.

The suspect was described as a man about 25 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 160 pounds, with brown, shoulder-length hair and blue or light green eyes, Willey said. He was wearing a navy blue T-shirt and black shorts.

Willey said police will not pursue any criminal action against the student for falsely reporting the location of the alleged assault.

“I want to make it very clear to anybody that’s wondering if our police department has any angst or this university has any angst toward this survivor, and that’s absolutely no,” he said. “She is still one of our Titans. … There’s no perfect victim when it comes to being attacked and when it comes to being a survivor of rape. … We support her. We’ll continue to support her. This university stands behind her.”