BU police are investigating four groping incidents during the week of October 22 that have unnerved BU students.

Safety

Police Seek a Man in Connection with Two Gropings; Suspect Arrested in Two Other Cases

Students are taking precautions after series of incidents BUPD chief calls concerning

Boston University police are investigating two assaults on October 26 involving a bicyclist groping female students—jarring a campus where police had arrested a suspect in two similar assaults committed just two days earlier. 

The first of the most recent attacks happened at about 10 pm last Thursday near 168 Bay State Road, according to the Boston University Police Department (BUPD). The student told police that she was approached on the sidewalk by the bicyclist, who touched her inappropriately before riding off. The student described her assailant as a white male on a dark-colored bike, wearing blue jeans and either a dark cap or a hooded sweatshirt.

In the second incident, which occurred an hour later, a student on the Charles River Esplanade near the Silber Footbridge reported that a bicyclist touched her inappropriately. She described the assailant as a male on a black bicycle, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. 

Anyone with information about the incidents should contact the BUPD at (617) 353-2121 or text the word ‘BU’ to TIP411 (847911). The BUPD will keep informants’ identities confidential.

The people assaulted in all four of last week’s incidents were female BU students, BUPD Chief Robert Lowe says, adding that the back-to-back incidents “are concerning and are not common on campus.”

“It appears one person may be responsible for Thursday’s assaults,” Lowe says. Police don’t yet have a suspect, and the chief says they are asking the BU community “to please contact us if they have any information.”

The first of the Tuesday, October 24, incidents occurred in the morning near 617 Commonwealth Ave. The second followed that evening on a BU Shuttle bus; the student in that assault gave officers a description of the assailant. 

“I am proud of the work that was done this past Tuesday,” after the first round of attacks, Lowe says. “The Boston University Police Department, working in partnership with our community, quickly identified and placed the suspect in custody.”

The drumbeat of four assaults over three days has left students on edge. 

“We had [the assaults] earlier in the week, and then—even though they apprehended the suspect—it happened again,” says Sol Sanchez (CAS’24), president of It’s On Us, a student group combating sexual assault and supporting survivors. “This definitely shows that it’s more of a larger issue that we’re dealing with. I’m also relieved that the BUPD is on it and is taking action very quickly and alerting the students.”

Sanchez says her group has talked with members and other student leaders “to discuss the context and hopefully provide some further support to BUPD and to the survivors that have come out of this.” 

Emily Stevenson (COM’24) says the gropings have led her to take additional precautions. “I’ve just been making sure I’m not walking home alone at night and my friends aren’t, either… I’m always making sure I’m taking the routes home that feel safe to me and either walking home with someone or calling someone the whole way home when it’s late at night.”

“Especially being a woman walking around campus, it’s definitely a lot scarier, so it just makes me even more aware,” says Melody Castillo (COM’25). “They advertise BU as being a safe campus and all that, and I’ve never had that issue where I felt unsafe, but this definitely kind of puts an extra edge on just being a college student and all the stress that you already have.” 

Castillo works at the Tsai Performance Center and often walks home late at night. “I just always make sure I’m on the phone with somebody,” she says. “I have shared my location with a lot more of my friends, just to let them know what’s going on. And I’m always keeping an eye out for the Blue Lights [safety telephones] on campus.”

“Students impacted by the recent assaults can receive services” at the University’s Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center (SARP), says Nathan Brewer, SARP director, by calling 617-353-7277 or sending a message or booking an appointment through Patient Connect. In addition, students might be able to receive aid from SARP’s Survivor Fund, which reimburses students for expenses related to sexual assault, such as medical expenses, emergency hotel stays, replacing damaged personal items, and having locks changed. 

The fund, created in 1992, was supervised by the Dean of Students office until oversight was transferred to SARP last November, Brewer says. The fund has received $38,761 from donors over its existence, and all money goes “for direct financial support of victims of interpersonal violence,” he says. Donors can contribute here.

“BU, being an open, urban campus, means sharing streets and avenues with fellow Bostonians whose interests may not align with ours,” says Jason Campbell-Foster, dean of students. “Vigilance, coupled with the efforts by BUPD and other units focused on safety and well-being, is our greatest asset. By keeping an eye out for ourselves and others, just like the individuals in these cases did, we contribute to building a stronger, safer community for all.”

Students who need help for stalking, domestic violence, or dating violence can contact the Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center, 930 Commonwealth Ave., at 617-353-SARP (7277) or by email at sarp@bu.edu. All services are free and information is kept confidential. In urgent situations, students can also seek help at Student Health Services Behavioral Medicine, at 617-353-3569. University employees who experience stalking, domestic violence, and dating violence can contact the Faculty & Staff Assistance Office, at 617-353-5381 or by email at sao@bu.edu. Students and staff can call the Boston University Police Department, at 617-353-2121, or the Medical Campus Public Safety Department, at 617-358-4444.

Mitchell Fink (COM’25), Jeromey Russ (COM’24), and Clara Cahill-Rogers (COM’24) contributed reporting for this story.