Police investigate rape near Belmont Avenue

YOUNGSTOWN — An 18-year-old Massachusetts woman staying with a friend near the Youngstown State University campus told police she was raped in a vacant house after initially venturing out with her laptop computer to use the Wi-fi service at a fast-food restaurant on Fifth Avenue.

The woman was interviewed by police at St. Elizabeth Health Center Tuesday evening where she went for a rape examination. The woman said she left her friend’s Wick Oval apartment around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and headed across the YSU campus, passing Stambaugh Stadium. Instead of stopping at the fast-food restaurant on Fifth, she continued walking west near Belmont Avenue.

From her description of the area, police believe she may have ended up on a side street near a housing project. The woman said a man grabbed her from behind, took her into a white house and raped her repeatedly, reports show. Afterward, the man said he was going to buy some crack cocaine and forced her to accompany him.

After walking a short distance, she fled. Reports show that the man took her computer and two cell phones but left clothing items in the house. Detectives have a detailed description of the man.