Sophomore Mitali Shukla awoke to loud banging on the door of her Chapman Grand apartment in the early morning hours of Nov. 8. When she opened it, Public Safety officers were standing outside. They asked if she could talk with them.

There had been a hooded man standing on Shukla’s balcony at around 3 a.m., they told her he was peering into her apartment window and looked as if he was preparing to break in. An unidentified Public Safety officer confronted him, but the man jumped over the enclosed first-floor patio and assaulted the officer, knocking him to the ground.

“I was asleep during a lot of it, but my roommate said she heard the officer groaning and calling for help,” said Shukla, a sociology major.

The suspect is described as a mid-to-late 20s white or Hispanic male with a mustache, according to a crime alert bulletin sent out by Public Safety the evening of Nov. 8.

After jumping off the patio and assaulting the officer, the suspect, who was wearing a dark sweatshirt with red lettering, fled the scene carrying a backpack.

The suspect still poses a threat to members of the community, the email said, and anyone with information that may aid in the investigation is encouraged to contact Public Safety. There have been five reports of assault in the area surrounding Chapman Grand, near the I-5 freeway, according to crimemapping.com.

For Shukla, an experience like this is just part of living in a bigger city like Anaheim, she said, but she doesn’t think it’s safe for officers to patrol alone.

“It’s kind of spooky. I was asleep, and it makes me feel really violated,” Shukla said. “I hope the officer is OK. I’m really appreciative of what he did, because without it, who knows what would have happened?”

Chief of Public Safety Randy Burba declined to confirm the identity of the officer for privacy reasons. He also declined to confirm whether reports of an attempted break-in was related to the assault.