IU Police warns students after man impersonates rideshare service

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana University students have returned to campus after winter break. Police say they need to pay attention to more than just their grades as they make their way around Bloomington.

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Indiana University Police sent out a public safety advisory shortly before classes resumed on Monday. It investigated two suspicious incidents around campus, both of which involved men in cars acting inappropriately towards female students.

"Things are suspicious, things are out of place, and we wanted to let other people know about them," said Hannah Skibba of the Indiana University Police Department.

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IUPD reports a man with a black SUV and an IU sticker pulled alongside a female student near the Wells Library on Jan. 11. The man said he was an IU Ride driver and demanded she get in the SUV. She did not, and the man drove away on Eagleson Avenue.

"Our vehicles are very distinctly marked, they say IU Ride across the side in huge letters," Skibba said. "You have to request those rides. They would not just show up and offer you a ride to a destination."

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IUPD also encountered a man in a white van taking pictures of female students near sorority houses on Jan. 8. The man was asked to leave David Baker Avenue and was banned from campus for a year.

Freshmen Marty Kaminski and Olivia Zagorski believe their classmates should not be afraid to take rideshare services, as long as they take safety steps beforehand.

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"I take it with people, I never take it by myself because when I go down to the city, I plan the trips with my friends," Zagorski said.

"I take them two times a week," Kaminski said. "We're freshmen, so we don't have vehicles. We'll often maybe take it down to Kirkwood of if we're dropping off my roommate's car, we'll take one back."

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IUPD asks that you report any suspicious activity on campus with emergency phones or at this website.