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CRIME
Stalking Brighton
BY SETH GITELL

A masked predator is stalking Brighton.

Police report two recent incidents where a masked man with a handgun has cornered women and tried to sexually assault them. The attacks took place on July 17 and 20, on Undine Road and Comm Ave, respectively. Law-enforcement sources believe the recent attacks were connected to a string of other assaults on women in the Brighton area over the last six months. Victims have similarly described the suspect: Hispanic male, 20 to 30 years old, five-foot-seven to six feet in height.

" This is a bad guy. We saw what happened in East Bridgewater, " says City Councilor Brian Honan of Brighton, referring to a case where another sexual predator murdered Alexandra Zapp in a Burger King bathroom this week. " This is someone who is at large in the city who needs to be apprehended immediately. " Honan, who is also a candidate for Suffolk County district attorney, is organizing a community meeting to raise awareness about the attacks and to brief women on their self-defense options. Police held a similar meeting in the North End, which has seen its own wave of assaults on women in recent months.

Making the case more difficult for police is the heavy presence of college students, who lack strong ties to the neighborhood. In fact, no local neighborhood-watch group patrols the area in question. Boston College officials have posted a " safety notice " on campus, but organized efforts on the part of the school to help stop the rash of crimes are hampered by the fact that school is not in session. " The latest incident happened at Commonwealth Avenue and Foster Street which, between September and May, is an area where hundreds of Boston College students live, " says Jack Dunn, a spokesman for the school. So while there are many students in the area working in summer jobs, there are no organized student groups, such as a " Take Back the Night " operation to help make the streets safe. And that makes this meeting all the more important.

For information about the community meeting, contact the office of City Councilor Brian Honan at (617) 635-3113. To report information relating to the crimes, call the Boston Police at (617) 343-4256.

 

Issue Date: July 25 - August 1, 2002
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