Updated at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 8

A female Northwestern student was attacked at approximately 1:30 a.m. Wednesday in the area of Emerson and Maple avenues near Engelhart Hall, according to an NU community crime alert.

An unknown man grabbed the victim and attempted to drag her into an area away from the sidewalk, according to the alert. The man fled when the victim spotted a police car and yelled for help, the alert said.

The alert described the man as a 6-foot-2-inch black male in his late 20s, weighing about 190 pounds. According to the alert, he was wearing baggy pants and a three-quarter length leather coat at the time of the attack and is described as having a high-pitched voice.

Alan Cubbage, NU vice president for university relations, said the Evanston Police Department handled the incident this morning. University Police were notified around 2 a.m., he said.

UP officers are distributing fliers about the incident around campus and are reminding students to avoid walking home alone and to use the Student Escort Service, Cubbage said. He said crime does not appear to be linked to any other.

“There’s no indication that there’s any pattern of any type,” he said.

The university following standard procedures for this type of situation, including posting the community alert on the