Man arrested after women report he chased them with a knife near IU campus

Two 20-year-old women walking to the IU campus Wednesday morning reported being threatened by a man who pointed a knife at them in downtown Bloomington.

Police located the suspect near a south entrance to the Indiana Memorial Union, where he was taken into custody. Karsten Harshbarger, 22, who has an Indianapolis address, faces preliminary felony charges of intimidation while armed with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

The Bloomington Police Department officer who arrested Harshbarger located a folding knife and suspected drugs on the ledge where he was found, according to a BPD news release.

At 11:15 a.m., officers responded to the intersection of Fourth and Grant streets in response to multiple 911 calls from people who said two women were running down the street, yelling that they were being chased by a man with a knife.

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Witnesses last saw the man at the Sample Gates, the main entrance to the Indiana University campus. A bystander pointed out the suspect to an officer, who saw Harshbarger seated on a ledge and took him into custody at 11:23 a.m.

The women said they were walking towards campus when they noticed Harshbarger trailing them. "One of the females reported that as she turned around to see why they were being followed, Harshbarger was five to ten feet behind them," the news release said.

"It was at that time that Harshbarger reportedly retrieved a folding knife from his pocket, exposed the blade and pointed it towards the victims." Both women ran toward campus yelling for help.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Knife-wielding man arrested near IU Bloomington campus