Duke University Police Department charged a man with second-degree sexual assault for the assault of a female student reported on campus early Thursday morning after the student left Shooters II.
The man, Ahmed Hezam, was arrested at his apartment at 1315 Morreene Road early Friday morning—students, faculty and staff were made aware of the DUPD investigation at around 6:35 p.m. Thursday evening.
According to Thursday evening's release, the student left Shooters in a taxi with others at approximately 1:30 a.m. to return to campus. After the taxi had reached campus and the other passengers in the taxi had exited the vehicle, the victim reported that the driver, Hezam, touched her inappropriately at around 1:45 a.m. on Science Drive, one of the primary West Campus streets.
“I just want to commend the investigators with the Duke Police Department for their swift action to identify and apprehend the suspect in this case,” Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration, said in a Duke News release.
Cavanaugh also noted in the release that information brought forth by the University community after the investigation was announced helped lead to the quick arrest.
“We are grateful for the community’s quick response to provide critical information in the investigation,” he said in the release. “Because of this information, we were able to make an arrest within 24 hours of the incident.”
As part of the investigation, the taxi Hezam was driving was impounded and Hezam is being held in the Durham County Jail. Bond is being set at $500,000.
Check back with The Chronicle for more updates on this developing story.
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