Suspected attacker on University of Iowa campus still at large

Police today still are looking for a 35- to 40-year-old attempted robber who approached a woman near the Iowa Memorial Union on the University of Iowa campus Thursday afternoon and prompted a Hawk Alert warning students to be on the lookout.

According to University of Iowa police, a UI student was walking with a friend along a sidewalk next to Hubbard Park about 1:36 p.m. when a man approached her and asked to use her cell phone. The suspect then grabbed the student with one hand and displayed a pocketknife with another, according to UI police.

The student got away from her attacker, who left the area in a vehicle.

Police say the student wasn't injured, and they later found the suspect vehicle. Investigators determined the suspect had been dropped off at the corner of Washington and Capitol streets before UI police stopped the car.

The UI issued a Hawk Alert after 2 p.m., and continued to search the downtown area. But the suspect remains at large this morning, according to UI police.

Officers are encouraging students to walk in groups and call 911 immediately if a crime occurs, like the student in this case did, according to UI police. Officers also are advising people not to pick up strangers or hitchhikers in their cars.

The suspect is described as a white male, 35 to 40 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 180 pounds. He had red or blondish hair that was thinning, and he had a receding hairline and glasses.

He was last seen wearing a dirty red zip-up sweatshirt with a hood and a dark colored undershirt.

Anyone with information can call UI police at 319-335-5022.