Hub police warn women after 2 rapes

Boston police warned women across the city yesterday not to walk alone day or night after the second woman in nine days was abducted by two men who then pistol-whipped her and took turns raping her.

The warning, distributed to Boston universities and news media outlets, was met with disbelief and fear in a city that for the past decade has boasted of relatively safe streets.

Both women were raped at night, but police said that the attackers may change their pattern and that women should not go out alone.

''Use your common sense," said Police Deputy Superintendent Margot Hill, commander of the Family Justice Division, which handles sexual assault investigations. ''Do not walk unaccompanied again until we have them in custody."

Police said the latest victim, identified by a police official briefed on the investigation as a 19-year-old college student, was abducted shortly after midnight Wednesday in Mission Hill. She had been walking near the intersection of Hillside and Parker streets when she saw a man looking into the trunk of an older-model, black or gray car, police said.

As she passed, the man lunged at her from behind and dragged her into the back seat of the car, which was driven by another man. They threatened her life, took her to a wooded location near White Stadium in Franklin Park, beat her with a gun, and raped her at gunpoint. The two men then set her free, and she ran for help at a homeless shelter on Walnut Avenue.

The first woman, a 23-year-old, was walking on Washington Street near Arboretum Road in Jamaica Plain near the Forest Hills station about 9:45 p.m. Sept. 21 when she saw two men hanging around a dark-colored, four-door sedan.

As she passed, they shoved her into the rear seat of the car and then, as with the other victim, beat her with a gun. The men draped something -- possibly a bag, a hood, or a sweatshirt -- over her face as they drove her to a secluded location, where they raped her. Hill declined to say how the woman eluded her captors, but in a bulletin sent to college campus police departments, police said the victim was released by her captors about an hour later in Franklin Park near the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.

The department has devoted significant resources to the search for what could possibly be a pair of serial rapists, Hill said, including the department's forensic section, which has the capability of testing DNA evidence.

Hill would not comment on evidence found at the crime scene, but police notified campus police that DNA evidence was recovered from at least one of the attack sites.

The first victim described her attackers as black men, one between 18 and 20 years old with a muscular build, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, black Adidas sneakers, and a gold neck chain with a cross. She said the other was in his 20s, about 5 feet 4 inches tall with a heavy build. He was wearing all black clothing and a stocking cap.

The second victim told police her attackers were black men in their 20s. one with a medium build, large brown eyes, a thin nose, and a flat face who wore dark pants, a large, gray sweatshirt, and a black rag or hat. The second man, she said, was about 250 pounds with short hair and light-brown eyes. He wore a black sweatshirt and blue jeans.

After receiving an e-mail alert from Boston police yesterday, universities and colleges throughout Boston began warning students about the attacks. Boston University, Northeastern University, and others posted the warning on their websites, forwarded the information to student-run media outlets, and began putting up posters with the warning in common areas throughout their campuses.

''The thought that these assailants were mobile and that they made the abduction from an automobile does make one aware that the risk increases throughout the city," BU spokesman Kevin Carleton said.

Some news outlets identified the second victim as a student at Emerson College, but college spokesman David Rosen said the administration had not been notified by police that a student was the victim of the vicious attack.

As news of the rapes and the police warning reached women who live near the scene of Wednesday's attack, many seemed stunned and frightened.

Alma Bocaletti of Mission Hill lives a few dozen feet from where the 19-year-old was abducted.

''This is really scary," said Bocaletti, 22. ''It's hitting home."

Newbury College student Miranda McLean often finishes her shifts at Top of the Hub restaurant in the Prudential Tower in the middle of the night and walks from a nearby T stop to her Mission Hill home, around the corner from where the victim was abducted on Wednesday. ''It's not really well lit; walking up the hill, it's very dark and dreary," she said. ''You can't see who's around the area."

McLean, 19, said she usually has someone walk her home after work. When she can't find anyone, she talks to a friend on her cellphone until she reaches her door.

Now, she's not sure if that will be enough to keep her safe: ''It makes me fear for my life."

Anne Sasser said she was stunned to hear of the abduction.

''I've never felt threatened here at all," said Sasser, 29, who has lived on and off in Mission Hill since 1994. ''This isn't typical. It's just very distressing."

Mayor Thomas M. Menino sought to reassure the public yesterday, but also urged people to be aware. ''It's a safe city, but I think we have an issue today that must be addressed," Menino said. ''You have to be cautious. We're asking people to be cautious."

Police advised anyone with information that might help the investigations to call the tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS or the Sexual Assault Unit at 617-343-4400.

Globe correspondent Jack Encarnacao contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.