UCI police arrest man following sexual assault

UC Irvine police officers arrested a man Saturday morning following a sexual assault near the campus several hours earlier.

According to spokeswoman Susan Menning, police arrested Brian Timothy Russell, 21, of Irvine, at 8:57 a.m. and charged him with rape, forcible sexual penetration and oral copulation. The incident occurred around 1 a.m. in the area of Vista del Campo, a student apartment complex on Culver Drive.

Allan Paing, a public information officer for the university, said the suspect was in custody Saturday afternoon and would soon be transferred to Orange County Jail.

He said Russell was enrolled as a student at UCI and was arrested in the area where the assault took place.

About 3,000 students live in Vista del Campo, which is privately owned and opened in fall 2006. A number of residents there, Paing said, were students from other campuses who stayed at UCI for a few months while taking summer classes.

Paing and Menning could not provide information on the victim or details of the incident, and campus police officers declined comment Saturday.

— Michael Miller