Everett man charged in T groping
Transit Police arrested a 22-year-old Everett man Wednesday in connection with the groping of a woman on the T.
It was the third such arrest in three days, part of a crackdown by the T, which has seen reported incidences of sexual assault rise by 32 percent and arrests by 40 percent since April 2008, authorities said.
“We are getting more reports, and we’re also getting the info to make arrests,’’ Chief Paul MacMillan of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Transit Police said Tuesday.
On Oct. 19, police allege, Hugo Hernandez groped a woman pressed up against him in a crowded Orange Line train until she eventually struck him in the face.
The victim exited the train at Community College station and reported the incident.
On Wednesday night, Transit Police stopped Hernandez at Sullivan Square station and arrested him after he identified himself in surveillance video footage. He acknowledged that he was on the train with the victim and was struck in the face, police said.
Hernandez was charged with one count of indecent assault and battery on an adult and was scheduled to be arraigned yesterday in Boston Municipal Court. but the arraignment was postponed.
“There may be more complaints forthcoming regarding separate and unrelated incidents involving Mr. Hernandez at different times and different locations,’’ said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office. It is unclear whether any incidents occurred on the T.
On Monday, Transit Police arrested William Carlyle, 52, of Boston, and James Williams, 44, of Chelsea, in connection with separate groping incidents.
