A KU student was involved in a case of battery in Lot 112 near Oliver Hall last Monday. Since then, residents have made a conscious effort to keep parking lots safe.

People are being more cautious now because of incidents such as that one. Curry Curtis, Olathe freshman, said Oliver put up composite sketches of the suspect in the battery on elevators, bathrooms and front doors. The suspect hit a 19-year-old female under her right eye and then fled toward 19th Street. Police have not identified the subject and are still investigating the case.

“It’s scary,” Curtis said. “It made me think more about what I’m doing.”

Curtis said she worked late as a server and did not think too much about safety issues before the incident.

She said her mother, along with two police officers she knew through mutual friends, taught her to tightly hold her keys in her fingers when she walked to her car at night. In the event of an attack, one could stab the attacker with the keys and open the car door to get away immediately, she said.

“I don’t know if many other girls know about that,” Curtis said. “My mom taught me to do that and she’s paranoid.”

A separate incident involved a KU student walking on cars in Oliver’s parking lot late on March 5. When a group saw him, he jumped off of the car he was on top of and hit a 19-year-old male KU student, according to the police report. He then got into a car with two women, who told him to get out of the car. As he got out, he touched one of them on her breast. KU Police arrested the student and charged him with sexual battery, battery and criminal damage.

There have been 65 reported thefts and nine reported cases of assault and battery in residence hall parking lots during the past five years, according to the KU Public Safety Office. Capt. Schuyler Bailey, KU Public Safety Office, said four of these cases came from two incidents in which both individuals filed charges against each other.

Scholarship hall parking lots experienced security issues as well.

There have been 29 reported complaints to the KU Police Department in scholarship hall parking lots since 2000, Bailey said.

Reports ranged from criminal damage to urinating in public.

Taylor Price, Overland Park sophomore, said parking at scholarship halls was more of a problem than most people thought. Price lives in Douthart Scholarship Hall, 1345 Louisiana St.

“Two weeks ago, someone came back drunk from the bars, jumped from a wall onto the hood of my car and drew a smiley face with the dust on it,” Price said of the way he thought the incident occurred.

Douthart is located about a block away from the Hawk, 1340 Ohio St., and the Wheel, 507 W. 14th St. Price said her car got damaged at Lot 122, which is the parallel parking on Louisiana Street.

Ken Stoner, director of student housing, said scholarship halls needed to be particularly attentive to bar traffic at night because of their location. It’s different than the residence halls, which are not located by any bars, he said.

“It’s not like you’re walking on Jayhawk Boulevard,” Stoner said.

Jamie Hickok, Douthart resident and Wichita sophomore, had her side-view mirrors damaged on the Louisiana Street parallel parking lot.

“I have to pay for everything myself when it comes to my car, so I was mad that I had to shell out $200 to get my mirrors fixed,” Hickok said.

As for Price, she just wants to see her car remain unharmed.

“It’s frustrating because the scholarship hall residents are some of the most active, involved and successful students on campus,” Price said. “It’s very unfortunate that our cars seem to be sustaining the most damages on campus from any residential group.”