A 41-year-old man was arrested following allegations of sexual assault in a UCLA dorm room.
A 41-year-old man was arrested following allegations of sexual assault in a UCLA dorm room.
According to a UCLA Police Department statement, Jeffery Brewer entered Saxon Residential Suites at about 2:40 a.m. He allegedly sexually assaulted a female student in her own bed before quickly fleeing the scene.
Within 24 hours, police officers located and arrested Brewer. The female survivor and two witnesses identified him, and he was charged with assault with intent to commit a felony, false imprisonment, burglary, and forcible sexual penetration.
Brewer is currently held at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Inmate Reception Center with a bail set at over $1 million. The investigation also found that the 41-year-old had been arrested by campus police in July 2023 for a misdemeanor.
According to the Los Angeles Times, UCLA has had “more sexual assaults reported than any other school in the 10-campus University of California system — 36 between April 2023 and March 2024.”
The vast majority of criminal arrests at UCLA involved suspects who, like Brewer, were not affiliated with the university.
Numerous students living in the UCLA dorms are on high alert. Chantal De la Cruz has lived in the Saxon Suites dorms for over a year. After hearing the news of this horrific attack, she turned to friends for support. “A lot of [students] are upset at the university, like, they say they're here to protect us, but where's the protection? Other students are putting in like our group forums, you know, what's happening and to stay safe, look out for each other,” she said.
Police are unsure how Brewer was able to enter the student’s dorm room, but students say they tend to leave windows open at night to combat the heat. Now, students are asked to remain vigilant, lock their doors and windows, and report any suspicious activity.
“It’s awful, it’s scary… it's terrible that that sort of thing can happen at a school,” said Sophie Waldie, another resident of the UCLA dorms.
UCLA police urge anyone with information regarding the assault to contact their offices directly.
Authors: Alexis Kabat and Andy Goldwasser
