Orange County deputies said they are searching for a suspect after a woman was attacked near the University of Central Florida early Wednesday morning in what investigators called an attempted sexual battery.
The attack happened around 1:25 a.m. off Socrates Drive, just west of the UCF campus.
When deputies arrived, they found a 20-year-old woman who told them a man grabbed her and forced her to the ground. She said the man then took off some of her clothes and exposed himself while holding her down.
The victim screamed, and the man ran off. Deputies said the woman was not physically hurt.
"I heard that it was a female yelling, 'Help!'" said a neighbor who was awakened by her screams. "She stated it several times. Then she yelled, 'If you do this, somebody will catch you!'"
Lee Barrow, a UCF student, said he's beginning to feel unsafe in the neighborhood.
"Lately, it seems like these UCF crime alerts in my email — I'm getting them all the time now," he said. "There was one from the Applebee's (and) then there was one down the street. Now, it's here."
He said the area is poorly lit and that there aren't enough police patrols.
"You've got the second largest university in the nation, and you have this neighborhood that primarily consists of college students. The lighting out here is just God awful. I just think it was something that could have been prevented."
Investigators went door-to-door, wanting to talk with any witnesses who may have seen or heard anything.
If you have any information in this incident, call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).