Man accused of assaulting multiple women at ASU
TEMPE, Ariz. - A man accused of assaulting three women at Arizona State University's Tempe campus has been arrested.
ASU Police say the assaults happened on April 11 in different public areas on campus, and the alleged crime spree reportedly last about an hour.
The suspect in the assaults, 29-year-old Justin Avery, was arrested outside of Hayden Library. Avery is not affiliated with ASU.
"Two other victims came forward after the arrest to report contact with Avery," police said.
Court paperwork shows Avery targeted the women, seemingly at random, and often in parking garages by allegedly forcing his way into several cars, grabbing and groping the women. In one of the incidents, Avery was reportedly strangling a woman until she kicked him in the groin.
Avery told police he went to the ASU campus for the scenery, a reference to attractive woman. He reportedly admitted he wanted to have sex with them, and was willing to act aggressively to get what he wanted.
"It's terrifying," said student Addison Gleason. "Definitely makes it scary, especially when there’s a lot of people that walk around, like, late at night."
"You definitely have to be careful, because people are doing crazy things like this in broad daylight nowadays," said student Viola Castro.
Avery is accused of sex crimes, assault, criminal trespass and burglary, kidnapping, and unlawful imprisonment. He is being held on a $250,000 bond.