Madison police announced Thursday the arrest of a suspect in Monday morning's sexual assault on University Avenue.
Police took Mario Amaya, 26, into custody early Thursday morning after receiving several tips in recent days, a statement said.
According to police, Amaya, who is from Madison, joined three other men in sexually assaulting a woman on the 500 block of University Avenue early Monday morning. The three other men remain at large.
Madison Public Information Officer Mike Hanson was not available for comment Thursday, and police have not released any further details of the assault.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who represents much of the city's downtown, said the assault was unprecedented in Madison.
""It's just unbelievable,"" Verveer said. ""We've just never seen anything like this before.""
Verveer stressed that the case is far from solved, adding that central district detectives working under Mary Lou Ricksecker continue to search for the other three suspects.
Meanwhile, the assault has put young women around campus on edge. Mattie Dungy, a UW-Madison sophomore, said the details of Monday's assault were particularly frightening.
""I think every girl has that fear [of being sexually assaulted],"" Dungy said. ""But the idea of getting ganged up on, and having more people get involved, that's just terrible.""
Dungy said the arrest of one suspect was encouraging, but added, ""there are still three other guys out there who could do that again.""
Verveer insisted that police and city officials are fully committed to solving Monday's crime and preventing similar incidents in the future.
""A lot of people are afraid for their safety,"" Verveer said. ""I want to assure them that we are not taking this lightly.""
Anybody with information in the case is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 266-6014.
