Police Warning New Students To Be Careful On Esplanade
BOSTON (CBS) - After several attacks on women walking the Esplanade the last few years, police are warning incoming students to be alert.
Authorities re-released a computer-generated sketch of a suspect wanted in three sexual assaults on the Esplanade and a fourth in South Boston since 2006, hoping to generate new leads.
"We believe that a single offender committed three summertime assaults here on the Esplanade between 2007 and 2009 and a similar assault in Moakley Park in South Boston in the summer of 2006," said Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley.
WBZ-TV's Sera Congi reports.
The Suffolk County District Attorney's office released a description of each incident:
- July 14, 2009: A young woman was assaulted near the Massachusetts Avenue footbridge shortly after midnight.
- July 29, 2007: A 20-year-old woman was abducted at knife-point on Beacon Street and forced to walk to the Esplanade, where she was assaulted at about 3:30 a.m.
- June 16, 2007: A different 20-year-old woman was jogging at the Charles River Esplanade on a footpath near the Massachusetts Avenue bridge shortly after 11:00 p.m. when she was assaulted.
- July 29, 2006: A 30-year-old woman was assaulted in the area of Joe Moakley Park at about 3:00 a.m.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports.
Podcast
Two additional reported attacks occurred on the Esplanade this summer but have not been connected to the others.
Police officials are urging everyone to take precautions.
"Male or female, young or old, new arrivals or longtime residents to stay alert and stay safe," said Conley.
"While we do our job, we'd like to remind people who use any public recreational space, including here at the Esplanade to practice basic common sense," said Col. Marian McGovern, Supt. of Mass. State Police.
SUSPECT DESCRIPTION
The victims collectively described their assailant as:
- An African-American male in his mid-20s to mid-30s
- Clean-shaven with a bald head
- Standing 5'8" to 5'10" tall
- With a medium to large build at the time of the attacks.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
