Student to confront attacker in courtroom

One of several suspects involved in attacking College sophomore Lauren Slawe in September has been positively identified by a witness and will go to trial on December 4. "I'm definitely glad I'm going [to trial]," Slawe said last night. "I hope it deters kids in the area from doing the same sorts of crimes." Slawe said she was biking home from crew practice on September 10 when a boy grabbed her shirt and threw her off balance. The boy then displayed a B.B. gun and demanded her bike as several other adolescents surrounded her. She resisted and the boy with the gun began kicking her in the head with his foot. College senior Kenneth Rowles and Wharton senior Colin McGranahan, also crew members, heard her cries and came to her aid. McGranahan chased the boy to a nearby housing development, but backed off when the suspect's older "brother" threatened him. "I'm fine now," Slawe said. "I still have a scar on my elbow, but it's nothing." Slawe said she could not give police a solid identification of her assailant because she was not looking at his face during the attack. "I didn't really get a good look at him," Slawe said. "It was really [McGranahan] who identified him." McGranahan said last night he hoped to see the boy convicted. "[He's] 13-years-old and he's committing armed robbery and aggravated assault," McGranahan said. "He's not convicted yet, but it's good to see justice in progress at least." Slawe said the same boy was involved in a robbery the day before he attacked her. A University graduate student witnessed the robbery and chased the boy. He wrestled with the boy and managed to get the boy's gun. "The kid got another gun in less than 24 hours," Slawe said. "Now that's mind-boggling. It may have just been a B.B. gun, but it still shows how easily accessible this stuff is to kids." McGanahan said he would be the star witness in the trial because the graduate student involved in the second case identified the wrong suspect. "The guy said he was positive he recognized the kid," McGranahan said. "But he ended up picking the wrong guy from the line-up." Slawe said she was not disappointed that only one of the suspects was caught. "He was the one who really initiated it," Slawe said. "He was the one with the gun." She said she will testify in court and hopes the boy will get more than a "slap on the hand." She said the important thing, however, was that her case did not end with just the police report. "I'm just glad there was a follow-up," Slawe said. "You hear about assaults all the time, but you never hear about people getting caught. It sort of restores your faith in the system."