Boca Man Arrested After Entering Women’s Dorm at Lynn University

By Danielle Armour

BOCA RATON – Students at Lynn University are reeling after an intruder snuck into a secure freshman dorm and terrorized several students recently.

Joseph Rutkowski, 21, slipped pass campus security and followed three students into the dorm around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb 12, according to an arrest report.  He followed them to their room, but was greeted with a door slammed in his face. He then went to another room, police said.

The woman in the next room thought Rutkowski was her roommate’s friend until he grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her around and tried to kiss her, police said.  She screamed and ran.

Rutkowski then forced himself into another dorm room, grabbed a student, threw her onto the bed and tried to get on top of her, investigators said. She, however, was able to get away.

His spree of harassment continued in a restroom where he took off his shoes and “nudged a shower curtain,” while the woman was showering, according to the report.  The woman screamed at him to leave.

Campus security was called to the second floor, but Rutkowski, who lives a few blocks away, rode away on his bike before they arrived.  Police arrested him the next day at his home.  He is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail, without bail, on charges of burglary with assault and battery.

“I feel super grossed out, but I’m glad they’ve done something about it,” student Rachel Marcos said.

Another student, Nicolette Speciale, said the spree caught her off guard but she feels safe.

“They’re always monitoring the buildings, there’s video cameras all the time,” Speciale said.  Everything’s usually monitored.  So hearing that was a surprise, actually.”

Jacqueline Guerrero, a student in the same dorm, agrees.

“I just always thought Boca was a safe neighborhood so I never thought in a million years that could happen,” Guerrero said.

Collegefactual.com, a website that ranks college safety, reports Lynn University has an overall F+ safety rating. The report states, “On campus crime statistics reported by Lynn University carry the most importance in our overall estimation of campus crime,” according to the report. “When all violations are totaled and weighed by both severity and the number of students at the school, Lynn University has far more than average reported crime.”