When a UA student was walking to class two weeks ago, she got an unpleasant surprise from a man hanging around a UA building.
Gina, who doesn't want her last named used because she fears the man might try to find her, said she was walking to class on April 12 when a young man walked by and spit on her.
"I saw him walking toward me, and at first I thought he was spitting on the ground, but the spit hit my foot, and he turned around and called me a tramp," she said.
In the past few weeks, several female students have reported being spit on and verbally assaulted by an unknown man who hangs around the Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building.
According to police reports, three weeks ago, an incident similar to Gina's occurred when a female student walking by the PAS building was spit on and called a slut.
The report stated the man described by the student was also suspected of harassing several female students on previous occasions.
Gina said she was too stunned at first to say anything to the man, but she thought about the incident all day.
"No one's ever called me a tramp before. I was just puzzled by it," she said.
Gina said the next day, she found out the same thing had happened to one of her friends who had been walking in the same area. Both Gina and her friend had the same description of the man.
Gina said she then decided to report the incident to police, although she did not want to press charges.
"I thought someone should know about it since it's happened more than once," she said. "I just want police to find him and tell him to stop; that would be an appropriate action."
Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman, said the man's behavior is unusual.
"It's a criminal act and is disruptive to the university setting," he said.
Mejia said none of the female students who have been harassed want to press charges.
But Mejia said if an officer sees the man spitting on someone, he could be charged with disturbing the peace. If someone did decide to press charges, the man could be charged with harassment and assault.
"It's an assault since bodily fluid is actually hitting the person," Mejia said, adding that the UA could also take disciplinary action against the man.
Gina said she saw the man who spit on her later that week but didn't say anything to him.
"You never know if he could be unstable. You don't know what he could do," she said.
Gina said she and her friend do not take the same route to class anymore and avoid walking by the PAS building.