ORLANDO, Fla. – A student at Valencia College is recalling the frightening moments on Tuesday evening when another student claims she was attacked.
William Gibson, 30, said that it took him a moment to realize what all the commotion was, but he could hear a woman yelling for help.
"She straight up stated that 'He tried to rape me,'" Gibson said.
Gibson said out of instinct, he ran after the suspect.
"We start hearing various degrees of screams going on. We didn't know exactly what was going on exactly, so we went to investigate, at which point we saw a man run through the door with the woman grabbing hold of his shirt," Gibson said. "He took off and started running downstairs. I took off, starting to run after him. Ran down the stairs, went through the front door. I originally lost him."
The Orange County Sheriff's Office said a female victim reported that she noticed a man standing behind her while she washed her hands inside a women's bathroom on campus. The woman claimed the man then pulled her to the ground and attempted to take off her clothing. After a struggle that lasted about two minutes, the man attempted to run away.
Detectives released a sketch on Wednesday. It includes a notable mole on the left side of the man's face.
"This woman didn't do anything wrong, and now suddenly she's being put through all of this for no reason," Gibson said. "That's not right."
Gibson said fellow students on campus remain vigilant while investigators search for the man.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-8477.