The reward for the tip that leads to the arrest of the suspect in UF’s recent sexual assaults has swelled to $1,750.
The Crime Stoppers fund was established on Sept. 12 through a $500 donation from Nick West, the owner of West Farms Landscape Services in Gainesville. It grew by $250 in the last 11 days.
Crime Stoppers pays the first $1,000 for a tip leading to a conviction.
West, 71, said he remembers the helplessness he and his family felt in 1990 when Danny Rolling murdered five college students. Rolling was later convicted then executed in 2006.
West said he felt they could do something this time.
“We feel like when people send their child to Gainesville to go to school it sort of becomes all of our responsibilities, all of us who live here, to help look after them,” he said.
To chip in to the fund, send a check to P.O. Box 2603 Gainesville, FL 32602, with a letter pledging money to the tip that helps arrest the suspect in the three August and September assaults.
The money will remain in the account for a year and will be returned unless donors renew their pledges.
Tips on the suspect can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 352-372-7867.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 9/23/2014 under the headline "Reward increased for info regarding UF assaults"]
