FBI aids Michigan assault investigation

The FBI has offered its assistance in the investigation of assaults on young women near the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, a town spokeswoman said. Six assaults, including two rapes, have occurred during the past two weeks and all the victims ranged in age from 18 to 26, The New York Times reported. Two of the woman were University of Michigan students while the others were area residents. Police said five of the attacks involved sexual assaults and the sixth was a robbery attempt. Each of the victims was walking alone at night. Ann Arbor spokeswoman Sandra R. Berchtold said the Federal Bureau of Investigation is providing assistance to local authorities "as needed." Berchtold declined to be specific about the role the agency might play. "We have a predator, or predators, operating in our community," Ann Arbor Police Chief Barnett Jones told a news conference.