Woman assaulted, robbed on Esplanade
Police seek link to June attack
A woman was sexually assaulted and robbed at knifepoint early yesterday on the Charles River Esplanade, three hours before Boston police arrested a man in a separate, South End rape case that occurred last week, police said.
The assault on the Esplanade prompted State Police to begin investigating whether that attack was connected to last month's sexual assault of a female jogger near the Massachusetts Avenue bridge. No suspect has been arrested in that attack June 16.
State Police said a man attacked a woman in her 20s about 4 a.m. yesterday. They said the victim was walking home or to a friend's house in Beacon Hill.
The victim was near Beacon and Hereford streets in the Back Bay when she was approached by the man, police said.
The man showed her his knife, then forced her to walk about half a mile over the Hereford Street Footbridge to the Esplanade.
There, he sexually assaulted her, then took her cellphone and camera, police said.
About 7:15 a.m., Boston police arrested Monty Garrett, 50, of Boston at his home in the reported rape of a 67-year-old South End woman Tuesday. An arrest warrant had been issued after the State Police crime lab confirmed that his DNA matched DNA evidence found at the scene of the assault, police said. Boston police declined to say why State Police had Garrett's DNA.
Garrett is scheduled to be arraigned this morning on charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping, assault and battery on a person over 60, unarmed robbery, and making threats, Police Superintendent Bruce Holloway said.
"I would like to commend the cooperative efforts of the fugitive and apprehension unit and officers from D4 for their tremendous work in swiftly locating this dangerous suspect," Holloway said.
Police characterized the South End case as a vicious attack, in which the man posed as a maintenance worker, then forced his way into the woman's Clarendon Street apartment at noon.
The South End rape was not connected to the assaults on the Esplanade, city police said.
A police spokesman said yesterday that investigators do not have enough of a physical description of the attackers in either Esplanade assault to say whether the same man might have attacked the women.
"There was a slight match," said Sergeant Michael Rafferty, spokesman for the State Police. "It could be closely related, but we're not ready to go forward with that."
The victim in the June attack was jogging alone on a concrete path about 11 p.m., when she was attacked. The attacker in that assault did not brandish a weapon, according to the police.
The June 16 assault unsettled those who use the Esplanade, a spot that is the home of the Hatch Shell, a concert venue where Frankie Valli performed last night along with several other bands.
A second assault in less than two months is particularly frightening, said Michael Ross, city councilor for the Back Bay. Since the June attack, State Police have added another full-time officer to patrol the area and placed other officers on overtime shifts.
"It's a concern because it comes at a time when we're putting more police on the street," Ross said.
"As safe as the Back Bay is -- it's probably the safest neighborhood in the Boston and probably one of the safest neighborhoods in the region, if not the country -- it's nonetheless the city. And we need to be vigilant."
Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com. 