Cops: Woman reported rape on same night as UCSB student

SANTA BARBARA - Authorities on Tuesday said that hours before a University of California, Santa Barbara woman was beaten and gang-raped off-campus, a nearby city college student contacted police about being sexually assaulted, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kelly Hoover told the paper that a student at Santa Barbara City College reported being raped by an unidentified man on Saturday night.

Police could not say whether the incident was connected to the gang rape by three men of a 19-year-old UC Santa Barbara student as she was walking toward apartments in Isla Vista, which occurred sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Sunday in an unincorporated community near campus, according to the Times.

The UCSB student went home and alerted police about the attack, but sheriff's deputies have made no arrests at this time.

Officials said that university police patrolling Isla Vista will be more visible as a result of the assault. The attack marked the second reported gang rape of a UCSB student in just two months. On the morning of Jan. 18, two men and a male juvenile reportedly raped an 18-year-old student next to the campus, reports the L.A. Times. Three people were arrested in connection with the attack.

Those with information about either case can report tips anonymously to (805) 681-4171.