After being followed off T, woman fights off attacker in Brookline
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
A 25-year-old woman was followed off a Green Line trolley in Brookline early this morning and attacked by a man who tried to rape her, police said.
The woman had been followed from the Government Center station to the stop at Brookline Hills. She fought the man off and ran to safety in a home on Cypress Street, said Captain John O'Leary of the Brookline Police Department.
Police are searching for the suspect, who was described by the woman as a Hispanic man, possibly of Mexican descent, who is about 5 feet 2 inches tall and has a medium build. The man, in his early 20s, was clean shaven and kept his hair shorter than crew cut, O’Leary said. He was wearing boots, a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, and blue jeans.
Investigators have been in contact with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and are trying to determine whether the man may have been filmed by a surveillance camera. He is accused of assault with intent to rape, incident assault and battery, and intimidating a witness, O’Leary said. Transit police are assisting the Brookline police investigation.
The woman got on the Green Line at about 12:30 a.m. and noticed that the man had followed her onto the train, which was almost empty, O’Leary said. The woman sat near the conductor, and the man took a seat directly across the aisle.
"She said throughout the whole ride she felt him just staring at her," O'Leary said.
As the train approached Brookline Village, the man walked across the aisle, sat down next to the woman, and tried to talk to her, O'Leary said. The woman rebuffed his advances. She got off at the next stop and thought she felt the man follow her off the trolley, O’Leary said.
The woman walked quickly on Cypress Street and used a cellular phone to call her mother. At that moment, the man grabbed her from behind, ripping the phone from her hand, O'Leary said.
"All the mother heard was, 'Leave me alone,' and the phone went dead," O'Leary said.
The mother called 911 at 12:53 a.m. The man pulled the woman into a driveway and tried to rape her, O’Leary said. The woman struggled, yelled, and screamed, and was able to escape. Her attacker ran up Cypress Street in the direction of Route 9.
