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Ashland attacker remains at large By JONEL ALECCIA ASHLAND -- Police have beefed up night patrols and pursued several leads suggested by citizens, but a suspected serial attacker remained at large Sunday, two days after two local women were accosted. "We've got extra patrols on the street," Ashland Police Sgt. Rich Walsh said Sunday. "We've established a few leads, but at this point in time, the detectives are investigating." No other law enforcement agencies have been called in to investigate the attacks, which occurred less than 24 hours apart. Based on victims' descriptions, officials believe the person, a white male about 5-foot-10 or 5-foot-11, with a medium build, committed the attacks. A Southern Oregon University student was groped and robbed early Friday morning as she walked on Indiana Street near Siskiyou Boulevard by a man wearing a ski mask and wielding a knife. At about 10 p.m. Friday, a man attacked a 23-year-old woman from behind and knocked her to the ground as she walked alone on Manzanita Street near Scenic Drive. Police believe he may have been carrying a knife. The attacks were the third in two weeks in Ashland. On Nov. 3, a 22-year-old Ashland woman was raped as she walked home from work near the Ashland Library on Gresham Street. James Jeffrey Neill, 47, of Talent, is being held in the Jackson County Jail on a rape charge in that case. Walsh again urged residents to use caution when walking in Ashland and elsewhere. "If this individual is doing this kind of thing in Ashland, who knows where else he might go?" Walsh said. Anyone with information should call the Ashland Police Department at 482-5211 or the TIPS hotline at 552-2125. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA