University of Washington’s Greek Row on edge after reported rape and house break-in

University of Washington’s Greek Row is on high alert after a sorority member was attacked at her home and a sorority house was broken into within days of each other, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The first incident occurred early Sunday, when a sorority member living in Seattle’s University District with 11 of her sorority sisters reported she was raped by a man while she slept, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office.

The second came on Friday, when officers arrived at the Chi Omega sorority house after someone reported a burglary in progress, according to documents from the prosecuting attorney’s office. The officers found a broken window and witnesses directed them to a suspect in a nearby alley, according to documents.

Once officers found the suspect, he put his hands up and cooperated, identifying himself as Johnathan Frost, 38, documents say. He was wearing a hospital bracelet with his name and date of birth on it when officers arrested him, according to documents.

Frost told officers that he broke into the building through a window because he thought the building was on fire, documents say. There was significant damage inside the building — broken glass from the window, two glass tables and other glass items — and Frost had sprayed a fire extinguisher all over the floor and walls, according to documents.

Frost did not show up to his first court appearance and the judge found probable cause to charge him with residential burglary, Casey McNerthey, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said in an email to McClatchy News.

Frost’s bail will be determined on Saturday, McNerthey said.

Sunday’s rape suspect arrested

In Sunday’s alleged sexual assault, the victim had gone out drinking with friends and when she arrived home she told authorities that she went to bed in her clothes, according to a police statement of probable cause. No men were staying at or living in the house, and the other residents went to bed around 3 a.m.. They said they were sure if the front and back doors were locked.

Around 5 a.m., the victim — who said she was groggy and not fully conscious — awoke to someone raping her, documents state. She fought back and yelled at him to leave, which he did, the document says. Black Timberland boots were left behind in the victim’s room.

While the victim was at the hospital being examined for sexual assault, a man knocked at the back door of her residence, asking for his “black Tims,” which he said he had left there the night before. The victim’s roommates took photos of the man and gave them to officers, according to documents.

An officer saw the photo and identified the suspect as Brandon Robinson, 32, of Seattle, documents say. About three hours before the attack, the same officer said he contacted Robinson for allegedly looking into women’s windows, according to documents.

Robinson, who lives next door to the victim, was arrested on Tuesday. He has not been formally charged, a judge set his bail at $500,000 and issued a sexual assault protection order and order to surrender weapons, McNerthey told McClatchy News in an email.

Concerns on Greek Row

Students have been especially vigilant on Greek Row after the university sent out an alert Tuesday, The Daily reported.

Sorority leaders had also reported a white van had been driving around the area for days, but a spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department said it was just a contractor working in the neighborhood, according to the newspaper.

At a Panhellenic (a conglomerate of 26 women’s-only international organizations) leadership meeting Tuesday, one sorority’s president called for a letter to be drafted to campus and Seattle police “to express our frustration with their lack of response to the current situation,” the newspaper reported. The Panhellenic Council is also developing a spreadsheet for women to report incidents, according to the Daily.

This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 5:28 PM with the headline "University of Washington’s Greek Row on edge after reported rape and house break-in."