In the third such incident in the past few weeks, an unidentified male groped a female Boston University student near Packard’s Corner on Friday at around 1 a.m., BU Police Department officials said Friday.
BUPD Detective Patrick Nuzzi said the student heard footsteps from behind as she walked toward Naples Street and was then grabbed on her buttocks and crotch area. The victim screamed and the assailant fled, turning onto Naples Street, according to Nuzzi.
The victim did not get a clear enough look for a composite sketch of the suspect but provided a description, Nuzzi said. She described the assailant as a 28- to 33-year-old Hispanic male, between 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 4 inches tall. He had short dark hair in tight curls with a receding hairline and a thin build clad in a tan, possibly suede, waist-length zippered jacket, blue jeans and white sneakers.
The Brookline Police Department will handle the most recent investigation because the incident occurred within its jurisdiction, Nuzzi said.
In one of the previous incidents, two females stopped a BUPD officer to tell him that they had been groped by a male of similar description, said Brookline Police Department Lt. Robert Simmons. The officer could not find the suspect and when he returned to interview the women a second time they had also left, he added.
Simmons said he believes the incidents are related and the victims have all reported similar descriptions of the suspect. Nuzzi said the cases exhibit similarities, but he would not say they are related until police gather more information.
BUPD Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire said, ‘It’s impossible to speculate.’
In an effort to protect students, more plain-clothes officers will patrol the area, St. Hilaire said.
St. Hilaire called groping a ‘classic crime of opportunity’ and said police are most likely to apprehended suspects if they are caught in the act or if a witness sees an incident.
Nuzzi advised students to remain aware of their surroundings and not walk alone at night.
‘We’re concerned for the safety of the female students who live and walk in that area, especially at night,’ he said.
Police are requesting that anyone with information on any of the incidents come forward.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
