ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Ann Arbor Police are hoping DNA and area surveillance videos, and perhaps even police body cam footage, will help them identify the two men who sexually assaulted a woman Saturday night around 9:45 PM near Michigan Stadium.
The woman, in her thirties, left the night game during halftime to head to her vehicle that was parked across the street from the stadium at the Ann Arbor Golf & Outing Club.
The private golf club was allowing parking on their golf course. And staffers said they contracted with six deputies from the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office to patrol their grounds on game day.
The woman's vehicle was parked relatively close to East Stadium Boulevard but the attack may have been hidden by a row of evergreens.
Ann Arbor Police tell 7 Action News that they are working with the victim to try to get a good description of the two men who attacked and sexually assaulted her in between vehicles.
"This is not a common occurrence in Ann Arbor to have a sexual assault from strangers at 10 PM in the evening, in the middle of a football game," said Ann Arbor Police Chief Patrick Maguire. "That's highly uncommon and it's especially concerning and that's why we're really putting all of our resources into investigating it right now."
The woman was taken to the hospital and Michigan State Police are working on analyzing potential DNA from the assailants.
Chief Maguire said there is always a heavy police presence from various law enforcement agencies on game days and they are looking to see if any officer or deputy may have had contact with the assailants before or after the attack that may have been captured on body cam or dash cam footage.
Anyone who may have seen suspicious activity in the area is encouraged to contact Ann Arbor Police.
"We are hopeful that somebody out there saw something or knows something or has some kind of information," Maguire said. "Information cannot be too small."
U-M student Ariana Sosa attended Saturday's night game.
"Hearing that was scary because you see all the security and that still happened," she said.
Christine Watson is the Executive Director of SafeHouse Center in Ann Arbor where they support survivors of sexual assault and partner violence.
Watson said sexual assaults are often underreported and typically involve a known assailant but that Saturday's sexual assault at the golf course shows that sex crimes can happen anywhere and that the support of SafeHouse Center is available to all survivors.
"We get brought up with certain safety tips and we have to be careful with that because that insinuates that I'm, potentially, in control of a situation that I am not in control of," said Watson. "And so as much as we can say safety tips are helpful, we have to be really careful that they don't fall into the category of victim blaming."
The support and services of SafeHouse Center are "free, confidential and available to all survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault, who live, work or were victimized in Washtenaw County," according to their website.
SafeHouse Center's 24-hour helpline is 734-995-5444.
