Police are investigating a May assault in the Intramural Building that resulted in a victim needing stitches, Penn State Police said in a press release yesterday.

Penn State Police have recovered video surveillance stills that might shed light on a May 6 assault that occurred during a pick-up basketball game, according to a press release sent out by the department.

The incident, which police classify as a simple assault, left the victim with "moderate injuries" including a lump on the head and six to seven stitches around the eye, Lt. Jason Zajac said. He was unable to confirm if either of the individuals involved were students.

Zajac said Penn State police delayed reporting the incident to retrieve a better image of the suspect.

"The video quality wasn't that great," he said.

The end-of-semester rush combined with the victim leaving for summer vacation also caused the delay, Zajac said.

"The end of the semester took a hold of us," he said.

In the still shots taken from the surveillance video, the suspect appears to be a muscular, tall black man wearing a white sleeveless shirt and gray basketball shorts.

Generally, assaults aren't common in the IM Building, Zajac added.

"Every once in a while we have a pushing-shoving match," he said. "[But] this isn't an ongoing problem up there."

However, multiple theft incidents have occurred at the fitness facility, according to Collegian archives.

In 2005, a Penn State student was accused of stealing $1,941 worth of items from the IM Building, including an iPod, a North Face jacket and cash, which were taken from the track area and men's locker room, according to Collegian archives.

In May, two Penn State students faced various charges after police said they found another student's wallet in a locker in the IM Building and attempted to use his credit card to purchase an Xbox 360 at Wal-Mart, 1665 N. Atherton St., according to Collegian archives.

Still, news of the assault surprised Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Chip Harrison, who manages the facility.

"I think we've been very fortunate," he said. "We never have an incident that's anything like that."

Despite the incidents of theft, Harrison said keeping staff out on the floor "virtually all the time" makes the IM Building reasonably safe.

"We certainly try to keep it that way," he said. "We have expectations that others do the same."