Graduate Student Is Arrested On Female Harassment Charges

Candace Braun

Michael Lohman, 28, a Princeton University graduate student, was arrested on Saturday by Borough Police in connection with a string of crimes involving Asian women on campus.

On March 11, a female Asian student at the University reported to the University Department of Public Safety that while she was riding on a shuttle bus on Washington Road, an unidentified male cut off a lock of her hair. Charles Peters, an investigator with the University police, identified Mr. Lohman as a possible suspect. He felt there may have been a connection between this investigation and a previous one where a white male was seen pouring an unknown substance into the drinks of Asian women.

Det. Sgt. Nicholas Sutter of Borough Police was able to reveal that Mr. Lohman was riding the shuttle, and was in fact the man who had cut the victim's hair. A further investigation revealed that the accused had also obtained locks of hair from at least eight other Asian women. Police believe these incidents all occurred on or around the University campus.

In addition, police believe Mr. Lohman, a student in the department of applied and computational mathematics, may have been involved in upwards of fifty other incidents, whereby the accused had placed a quantity of his own bodily fluids into the drinks of different Asian women on campus. Most of the incidents are believed to have occurred in the Graduate College Dining Hall.

The accused may have also squirted bodily fluids on unsuspecting Asian females on various occasions as they rode on the University shuttle.

Sgt. Sutter's investigation also revealed that the accused stole clothing items from unsuspecting Asian women. The thefts are believed to have taken place on campus.

Mr. Lohman, a resident of 409 Butler Ave., was arrested and charged with two counts of recklessly endangering another person; two counts of tampering with a food product; one count of harassment; and one count of theft. The accused was charged and transported to the Capital Health Systems at Fuld for evaluation. He has not been released.

Borough Police are requesting that anyone who suspects they may have been a victim of a similar crime to call Det. Sgt. Sutter at (609) 921-8108. The investigation is ongoing.

"We expect that other victims will come forward now following the public release of this information," said Lt. Dennis McManimon of the Borough Police on Tuesday.