Police Brief Community on Measures Following Assaults

Last Thursday night at East Boston High School, Commissioner Ed Davis briefed the community on the recent rash of sexual assaults in the neighborhood. By Monday, Boston Police Department spokeswoman, Cheryl Fiandaca announced that police have arrested one suspect for a sexual assault that occurred at the corner of Brook and Saratoga Streets on Saturday.

Carlos Bonilla, of East Boston was arrested and the police said they have significant leads in the other cases that have occurred in the past two months.

“The Commissioner has put a significant amount of resources to crack down on these sexual assaults in East Boston,” said Fiandaca.

Last week’s meeting was called in response to the three sexual assaults that occurred in a six hour period on October 2 and 3. The assaults occurred less than a week after a man wielding a gun broke into an apartment and tried to rape two women. This crime took place a month after two men in Jeffries Point attacked another woman near the McKay School.

At the community meeting Davis, flanked by Captain Kelley McCormick and Eastie’s elected officials, said he and the Captain are doing everything to ensure that the needs of the community are addressed.

“We are doing everything we can to keep crime down,” said Davis at the meeting. “We have good suspects in some of cases but need help in some of the other cases. If you see someone suspicious, especially in light of these recent sexual assaults, it could be very important component in solving these crimes so we encourage you to report that activity.”

The first in a new series of assaults occurred at Princeton and Putnam Streets at approximately 11:45 p.m. on October 2. The female victim described the suspect as a black Hispanic or Mediterranean male with a dark complexion, approximately 5’6”, stocky build, wearing jeans and a light grey sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up. The suspect fled down Putnam Street and possibly entered a grey van or SUV traveling on Princeton Street towards Bennington Street.

Following that incident two more woman were attacked the following morning on October 3.

The first female victim was approached from behind at approximately 6:15 a.m. in the area of Lexington and Putnam Streets. The suspect engaged her in a brief conversation and indecently assaulted the victim and fled down Putnam Street towards Day Square.

The suspect was described as a black or black Hispanic male, dark complexion approximately 30 years of age, approximately 5’7”, approximately 150 pounds, medium build, wearing a black “hoodie” turned up and black pants.

The second incident involved a female victim who described a similar incident, which occurred several blocks away at the corner of Brooks and Paris Streets. The victim was approached from behind by a suspect who indecently assaulted her and after a struggle the victim fought off her attacker who fled on Brooks Street towards Day Square. This incident occurred only a few minutes after the first at 6:17 a.m. last Wednesday morning.

That suspect was described as a black non Hispanic male, dark complexion approximately 25 years of age, approximately 5’9”, approximately 180 pounds, with a medium build and brown eyes wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a black baseball cap.

Last week, before the additional sexual assaults, Commissioner Ed Davis said the Boston Police have put a show of force on the streets of Eastie following the recent rash of disturbing crimes—two of which took place in one night.

The first incident took place at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 19 in busy Maverick Square. In front of dozens of witnesses in the recently renovated square that includes multiple well-lit restaurants and shops a man was brutally stabbed. Responding officers said that the man was suffering from a life threatening injury to the stomach and was raced to Mass General where he remains in critical condition.

The second, more disturbing crime that has made many uneasy in the neighborhood occurred a few hours after the stabbing in Maverick. At about 11 p.m. on the same night officers responded to a report of a woman screaming in the area of Coleridge Street.

On arrival, officers spoke with two female victims who said an armed suspect broke into their home. The victims told police the suspect held them at gunpoint, demanded money, attempted to rape them and then viciously beat one of them with his handgun.  One of victims managed to escape and ran for help. The suspect fled the area in an unknown direction.

The suspect is described as a white Non-Hispanic male, approximately 6’ tall, medium build, 180 lbs, appeared to be in his late 20’s to mid-30’s, clean shaven and was wearing a black knit hat, a short sleeve grey t-shirt and dark shorts.

The two violent crimes come on the heels of an August 27 sexual assault and September 2 shooting.

On August 27 police were called to the McKay School on Cottage Street in East Boston. On arrival, officers discovered a woman in her forties suffering from facial trauma. Boston EMS responded and transported the victim to a local hospital for additional medical treatment.

The victim told police two men forced her into a vehicle and sexually assaulted her. She described her attackers as Hispanic males. The first suspect is described as a male, approximately 30 to 40 years of age, with a heavy build and a mustache. The second suspect is described as a male in his twenties with a thin build.

The assault is still under investigation by the Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit.

At last week’s meeting Captain McCormick asked residents, especially those from the immigrant community, to help the police be the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and report any crime they are a victim of or may witness.

“One of my biggest concerns is that we are finding out about some of these crimes and hour, two hours or a day later,” said McCormick. “The Mayor, Police Commissioner and myself are here to help victims. We do not care about your immigration status. We want people who are afraid to come forward because of this concern to begin reporting crimes and we want to assure these residents we are here to help victims.”

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