Impostor breaches UW dorm and lures 2 female roommates out of their room

SEATTLE -- It’s a big wake-up for call for students as an impostor managed to get inside a secured University of Washington dorm hall.

Once inside, the suspect targeted two female roommates.

“It was a crazy moment when you realize it,” said Ellis Mayne, who had come face-to-face with the man accused of luring two female UW students out of their dorm room around 4:30 a.m. Monday.

He said the suspect was “sort of speaking in a distinctive African accent,” Mayne said.

Mayne saw the suspect walking side-by-side with one female student leaving Elm Hall.

“It seemed like they were having a conversation so I thought honestly that the girl knew him,” Mayne said.

UW Police say the man convinced a male student to let him into Elm Hall, which has a secured entrance. Once inside, he walked into an unlocked dorm room with two female students sleeping inside.

“Staring at her, that’s how she described it when she woke up,” UW Police Maj. Steve Rittereiser said.

The intruder identified himself as a security guard and told one of the girls to come with him, Rittereiser said.

The girl made it to the lobby with the impostor but felt something was off so she ran off.

But that didn’t scare off the impostor. Police say he went back to the same room, and told the second student to come with him.

That second student is the one Mayne saw leaving with the impostor.

After walking about 100 yards with the stranger, the young woman finally realized something was wrong.  She spotted a university employee and ran for help.

“So happy for the girl and for me that nothing happened to her because I would feel terrible,” Mayne said.

Mayne added that many students, including himself, have a false sense of security.

“A lot of times we leave our doors open,” Mayne said.

In fact, we found it easy to get inside Elm Hall on Tuesday by just following students coming in and out.

“I will definitely be more careful,” Mayne said.

The suspect is described as a black male speaking in an African accent. He was wearing a light-colored stocking cap and scarf with a beige jacket and beige pants.

He is described as 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, weighing about  85 pounds, clean shaven in his late 20s early 30s. If you have any information call UW Police at (206) 685-8973.