The second reported sexual assault in downtown Albany in a week puts a college neighborhood on alert. Our Erin Vannella reports.

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ALBANY, N.Y. -- At 3:30 Sunday morning, a 21-year-old female was walking home.

"She came off of Hamilton Street and turned onto Quail and apparently the suspect then grabbed her, pulled her into a secluded alleyway, forced her onto the ground and proceeded to rape her," said Albany Public Safety Spokesman Jimmy Miller.

Then police say he ran. The victim couldn't see where, but described the suspect.

"The only description we have right now is a black male, possibly 35 to 40 years old, and no clothing description. Nothing more," said Miller.

It's the second reported rape in a week. Last Monday, police say a man entered a 21-year-old woman's house on Dove Street near Washington Avenue, raped her and ran.

"There's no way of knowing right now if they're connected," said Miller. "The only similarity is the suspect. The race of the suspect is black male. In the Dove Street rape, robbery was also involved. Here it doesn't appear that he took anything. So it's too early to say, but we can't discount it either."

Even despite the correlation to last week's crime, police advise young adults, especially young women, to always practice safety since you can never be too cautious.

"Trying to reinforce, 3:30 in the morning, 21-year-old female should not be out walking alone," said Miller. "That puts yourself in a really bad situation where there's not a lot of people out. It's not well lit and you make yourself a target."

Police say alcohol may have been a factor in this case, too. While it doesn't change blame for the incident, police say it's cause for a necessary reminder.

"You drop your guard," said Miller. "You think you're safer than you are. You're not as aware of your surroundings as you would be if you're sober. All those factors are not a good mix. We always try and stress, and the colleges do too, not to be out alone."

The University at Albany issued this statement in response to the incident, saying, "University at Albany has alerted all students about the alleged rape reported to the City of Albany Police Department yesterday. UAlbany is cooperating with the Albany Police Department as it conducts the investigation and stands ready to assist the victim."