UC Davis officials announced Thursday the rape of a 16-year-old girl last Friday night near a music venue at the Whole Earth Festival — one of several violent incidents that have prompted the shutdown of the festival’s DJ stage.

In addition to the reported rape, campus police are investigating the Friday beating of a 19-year-old man and sexual battery of a 14-year-old girl Saturday near the DJ stage, which was located in a lowered courtyard area on the west side of Wellman Hall.

A UCD student also reported being assaulted and robbed early Saturday morning in the North Entry parking garage.

Arrests were made in the beating and robbery cases, but the sexual crimes remain unsolved.

While attendance and calls for police service at the 42nd annual Whole Earth Festival were about the same as the past couple of years, “the violent crime was up,” UCD police Lt. Matt Carmichael said Thursday.

Police also noted higher attendance in the techno-pit area of the DJ Stage, which Carmichael said “was heavily attended by middle- and high school-aged kids, which is kind of unusual.”

In fact, police on Saturday halted access to the dance area at about 8:30 p.m. due to the larger-than-normal crowds, Carmichael said.

The 16-year-old rape victim had been dancing in techno pit area at about 8:30 p.m. Friday when the suspect, described as a tanned white or Latino male in his early 20s, led her into Wellman Hall and sexually assaulted her in a men’s bathroom stall, according to police.

“She was able to overcome him at some point” by kicking the suspect and knocking him over before making her escape, Carmichael said.

The girl reported the incident on Sunday, describing the suspect as about 6 feet tall with a muscular build. He was shirtless and had a hairy chest and abdomen.

Anyone with information about the suspect — or any of the other crimes being investigated — is urged to contact the UCD Police Department at (530) 752-1230.

Meanwhile, UCD officials announced Thursday that, in light of the violent crimes, the DJ Stage — a longtime feature at the annual three-day Whole Earth Festival — won’t be back.

“We are sending a message that people cannot come to our campus and behave this way,” said Fred Wood, vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a news release. “It can’t continue and it won’t be tolerated. We need to create a safe environment for everyone at this university.

“The DJ Stage has become completely antithetical to the founding positive mission of the Whole Earth Festival,” Wood added. “The evening dance event has been attracting an ever larger, ever younger crowd. It has simply become unsafe, and it will be discontinued.”

Whole Earth Festival is a student-run program that was held from Friday through Sunday, offering live entertainment, food, arts and crafts, and educational workshops that attracted an estimated 10,000 visitors.

UCD students Laura Damian and Racquel Esqueda, co-directors of the festival, expressed their support for the decision to eliminate the DJ Stage and said they plan to re-evaluate festival programming for next year.

“We don’t want to create an unsafe space,” Damian said.

The sexual battery occurred Saturday evening at the DJ Stage. The victim, a 14-year-old girl, reported being held from behind and sexually battered in the techno pit.

Carmichael described the suspect in that incident as a Latino male, 16 or 17 years old, with a thin build. He wore a black shirt and denim pants or shorts.

Police arrested a suspect in the Friday night beating, which resulted in the 19-year-old victim being taken by ambulance to the UCD Medical Center for treatment. The alleged assailant, Ramiro Alejandro Cordova, 19, of Woodland, was lodged at the Yolo County Jail on suspicion of felony assault causing great bodily injury.

Officers also arrested 18-year-old Joseph Anthony Aragon of Woodland in connection with the parking garage robbery. Two other suspects are still being sought in that case.

The weekend also saw the arrest of a 16-year-old girl on suspicion of possessing marijuana for sale, three arrests for public intoxication and 12 citations for alcohol-related infractions.

“This type of behavior is unacceptable,” Wood said. “We must recapture the intended spirit of the Whole Earth Festival, which has been a popular community event for decades.”

— Reach Lauren Keene at [email protected] or (530) 747-8048. Follow her at www.twitter.com/laurenkeene

TechnoStageW

Young people dance last Friday night in the techno-pit area of the DJ Stage in a lowered courtyard area on the west side of Wellman Hall on the UC Davis campus, as part of Whole Earth Festival activities. The dance area was the scene of several violent crimes, UC Davis police reported this week. Wayne Tilcock/Enterprise photo

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