{
  "id": "2024-08-18-columbia-university-sexual-assault-fondling-600w168st-medicalcentercam",
  "slug": "columbia-university-sexual-assault-fondling-600w168st-medicalcentercam-2024-08-18",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Columbia University",
    "shortName": "Columbia",
    "state": "NY",
    "type": "private-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Columbia Public Safety Clery Alerts",
    "enrollment": 33000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-08-18",
    "type": "sexual-assault",
    "cleryCategory": "timely-warning",
    "resolution": "under-investigation",
    "headline": "Clery crime alert for a sexual offense near campus",
    "headlinePublic": "Clery crime alert for a sexual offense near campus",
    "summary": "Columbia Public Safety [issued a Clery crime alert PDF](https://web.archive.org/web/20250804133624/https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/W15_Clery_Fondling_600W168St&MedicalCenterCampus_2024-08-18.pdf) recovered via Wayback. Full text preserved from the official flyer.",
    "outcome": "See the Clery crime alert for investigation status and safety guidance.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Published as Columbia Clery crime alert around 2024-08-18",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Clery Crime Alert\nFondling\nOn Sunday, August 18, 2024, at around 12:47 a.m., a Fondling occurred in front of 600 West 168th Street, at the Medical\nCenter Campus.\n\nThe complainant, a Columbia University student, reported that an unknown male, after asking for the time, walked behind\nthe complainant and then slapped them on the buttocks. The suspect was last seen running south on Broadway from West\n168th Street.\n\nThe incident was reported to Columbia University’s Department of Public Safety on Sunday, August 18, 2024, at around\n12:49 p.m. A police report was filed. If you have any additional information about this incident, please contact the\nDepartment of Public Safety at 212-305-8100.\n\nThe suspect was described by the complainant, as male-presenting, with short black hair wearing blue scrubs, a black\nsneakers and no shirt. No other information is available at this time.\n\n· Be aware of your surroundings, especially when walking alone.\n· Walk in groups whenever you can. There is always safety in numbers.\n· Trust your instincts. If you feel that you may be in danger, seek out others, a store, or an open CU building that\nhas Public Safety Officers posted. Remember to look for the Red Lion, the logo for the CU Public Safety Safety\nHaven program, which has screened more than 130 businesses near the Morningside, Manhattanville, and\nMedical Center Campuses. For more information about the Safe Haven program, please click here.\n\nDISCLAIMER: Clery Crime Alerts (Timely Warning Notifications) are distributed pursuant to the\nJeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. Columbia\nUniversity is required to alert the campus community when certain crimes occur in our Clery Act\ndefined campuses that represent a serious or continuous threat to the community.\nTo see this and other Clery Crime Alerts please visit our Public Safety website. For more informa on\nabout Columbia University’s Clery Act compliance efforts, please contact the Department’s Clery Act\nCompliance Director, Roberto A. Pineda Sanchez at rp3240@columbia.edu.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20250804133624/https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/W15_Clery_Fondling_600W168St&MedicalCenterCampus_2024-08-18.pdf",
      "sourceDescription": "Columbia Public Safety Clery crime alert PDF via Wayback Machine",
      "annotations": [
        "pdftotext from official Clery PDF archived on Wayback; live host Cloudflare-blocks automated fetch"
      ],
      "characterCount": 2073
    }
  ],
  "context": "On or about 2024-08-18, Columbia Public Safety published a Clery crime alert flyer. Live [index](https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/content/clery-crime-alerts) is Cloudflare-restricted to bots; [Wayback PDF](https://web.archive.org/web/20250804133624/https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/W15_Clery_Fondling_600W168St&MedicalCenterCampus_2024-08-18.pdf) holds the public text.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Official Clery PDF with complete text",
    "Recovered via Wayback due to live 403"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Clery crime alert PDF (Wayback)",
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20250804133624/https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/W15_Clery_Fondling_600W168St&MedicalCenterCampus_2024-08-18.pdf",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Columbia Clery crime alerts index",
      "url": "https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/content/clery-crime-alerts",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Columbia University",
      "url": "https://www.columbia.edu/",
      "type": "official"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "sexual-assault",
    "clery",
    "columbia",
    "wayback",
    "new-york"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-21",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-21",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}