UPDATE (Thursday, Oct. 6): Investigators looking into possible link between bathroom attack, burglary in Menifee

A Hemet man was arrested Tuesday, Oct. 4, on suspicion of attempting to sexually assault a female student in a gender-neutral bathroom at Mt. San Jacinto College’s Menifee Valley campus.

The 18-year-old victim was inside a bathroom stall about 9 a.m. Monday when a man approached her and told her to put on clothing that he had with him, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

He tried to prevent her from leaving the bathroom stall, but she refused and defended herself from the man’s advances, the release said. She escaped the encounter unharmed.

Deputies identified the suspect as Tyrell Nathaniel Brown, 29, and arrested him at his Hemet home Tuesday afternoon, according to the sheriff’s release and booking records.

Mt. San Jacinto College spokeswoman Karin Marriott said Brown is not a student at the college.

In response to the incident, college officials have brought more security guards to patrol near the bathrooms, Marriott said Wednesday. Additional locks will be installed in the bathrooms as well.

“For students, visitors and employees, safety is our priority,” Marriott said. “We are always asking people to be mindful and be watchful of their surroundings, and if you see anything suspicious, you should contact law enforcement or call 911 in an emergency.”

In the year that the school has offered gender-neutral bathrooms, no similar incidents have been reported, Marriott said. The incident occurred in a multi-stall restroom in the campus’s 500 building, which contains allied health and nursing classrooms.

Marriott said students and staff were sent an email notification about the incident after it was reported, and will continue to be updated on the situation.

She said the incident was initially reported as a false imprisonment, but after further investigation, detectives came to believe the suspect intended to sexually assault the woman.

Brown was booked into the Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy or mayhem and false imprisonment, both felonies, jail records show. Bail was set at $50,000.

The Sheriff’s Department asks anyone with information about the incident to contact the Hemet sheriff’s station at 951-791-3400 or hemetstation@riversidesheriff.org.

Staff writer Anne Millerbernd contributed to this report.