Reposting from Craigslist: Attempted assault reported at Powderhouse

[brewso.livejournal.com]

Please note that this did not happen to me, but I just found this posting on craigslist in the community section and figured the wider the information could be relayed, the better. Stay safe!


"I posted yesterday and today about an incident that occurred early yesterday morning in Powderhouse Square (on Broadway--opposite side of the street from the funeral home)at about 4:15 AM.

I was out jogging because I could not sleep (yes I have learned my lesson)and a man attacked me. As I was screaming he said, "STOP SCREAMING OR I'LL KILL YOU!!! STOP SCREAMING OR I'LL KILL YOU!!" I stopped screaming and was able to get away unharmed. I ran away to Davis Sq, hopped in a cab, headed to the police department, and filed a report.

Here is the description:
-Caucasian male, late 20's/early 30's
-dark brown hair, down to below his ears (think of the criminal in "No Country for Old Men)
-fat (280-300 lbs)
-approx 6'
-eyes are skewed (meaning the opposite of cross-eyes: like a fish)
-clothing: white wife-beater t-shirt, jeans, black tennis shoes
-possibly on drugs: he had a crazed expression on his face

If you have seen think you have seen person, PLEASE notify the Somerville police dept at 617-625-1600. I will be calling them tomorrow to see if they have a detective on the case.

I was fortunate enough to get away from this guy, but he's still out on the streets...."

Comments

[kidsmokes.livejournal.com]

Ugh, as an 18 year old female who is constantly stumbling home past midnight this is terrifying. I'm from Texas and heard mace is illegal? Is this true? If not, do you have to register it? Is it hard?

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

i don't know about that, but lots of times when i'm walking i walk with my keys out, and my car key in my hand - they taught us in highschool to aim for the eyes.

[tisana.livejournal.com]

It's not illegal, it's just that you need to have an FID (limited) card to carry real Mace. When there was a rapist attacking women near Tufts--right at my bus stops--I went to get registered through my police department. With all the checks they do--even with no record--it took three months, and several days off of work to come in to fill various things out, because they couldn't possibly do these things at a convenient time.

It was a pain in the ass, but I'm glad I have it in case I have to use it on someone...I don't know what would happen if I had to use it and didn't have the FID card, but given the stupid bureaucracy to get it, I'm sure it would be a further pain in the ass.

My advice?
Go and put in an application at the police department, give them a check for $25, and while you're waiting, get some online (Ebay is easy enough to find a couple cans cheaply), and put it on a wrist coil thingie to wear on those nights you have to walk home late. (Really. It does you NO good if it's not right in your hand.)

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

This is worse than those Fox News hacks who lean in with some dire warning about powdered milk. It's in your community, and it's killing your kids...

Also, could've done without the self-blaming victim bullshit. "Learned [my] lesson?"

Because all women should obviously know better than to jog early in the morning.

Everyone be on the lookout for Tom Arnold circa 1995.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

I tend to think jogging an hour before sunrise is kind of dangerous for anyone, which may have been the point, but don't let me stop your tremendous wave of rage.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a hoax. It's fishy to start with, and it just doesn't add up:

- There seem to be no references in any Somerville news sources citing this - no police blotter entries, no stories, nothing.

- The poster makes side notes that suggest a morality lesson, rather than an accounting of fact (especially, "I learned my lesson")

- Lack of details on what happened (she was "attacked"?), vaguely menacing description playing on a pop-culture villain, with just about every other boogieman descriptor possible - I mean, we've got a nebulous dude who looks like an unstoppable serial killer, who is supposedly on drugs, cross-eyed, fish-like, and lying in wait in the wee hours of the morning to pounce on women.

- The poster went to Craigslist to post this?


Stay alert, but take this with a grain of salt, eh?

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Adding to the nonsense, the original post: http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/com/735589346.html

"I went out jogging early this morning (4am) because I could not sleep. At Powder House Square I was tackled (grabbed from behind) by a large caucasian male (280-300 lbs). He threatened to kill me but for some reason I was able to get away. I am not injured but I could have been.

Please do not ever go out before the sun comes up. I was lucky enough to have escaped, but perhaps others are not."

He's not just a drugged out serial killing fish, he's a VAMPIRE.

[ron_newman]

Could you please link to the post in its original location, so that we can follow the discussion there if we wish?

[m00n.livejournal.com]

I was able to find it here (http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/com/737142128.html).

I'm not sure what I think about the concept of conflating "attacked" with "rapist." Especially when it's so unclear what "attacked" actually means here. Complaints like this don't seem to do a whole lot other than arming half the community with pepper spray, which is not the healthiest thing in the world imho...

[anomie666.livejournal.com]

These kinds of things get circulated on the internet precisely because people think "better be safe than sorry". Unless there is a warning specifically from the police or you read about it in the newspaper, you have to think this is not accurate.

Always being alert about putting yourself in dangerous situations and looking out for specific danger signs is always a good idea. However, passing on unverified information is just spreading spam. Check out "snopes" for hundreds of examples of this kind of spam.

[brewso.livejournal.com]

OK, so I may have been a bit quick to jump on this, but I'm still not convinced it's a hoax. I mean, it had a lot of specific information, and it was posted anonymously on craigslist. If someone were crying out for attention or to get a chain of comments going, the craigslist community section is hardly the place to do so. There have been no responses so far at all.

Also, in response to ellf's comment: ("This sounds like a hoax... [t]here seem to be no references in any Somerville news sources citing this - no police blotter entries, no stories, nothing."), I would like to note that I went on the Somerville Journal's website, and it does not appear to have been updated since Friday during business hours. The girl who posted about her attack said that it happened in the pre-dawn hours Saturday morning, so it's not surprising that no information is available yet. We will have to keep looking to see if police blotters corroborate her story. But they need to print those first.

So, although I regret making the logic leap to "rapist" (which I did by following the original poster's wording), I don't regret posting this as of yet. I remember when there was an actual rapist last year it would sometimes take several days before the information was widely available, and more incidents could have taken place in the interim. Hopefully I am wrong and will admit it easily if it turns out to be a hoax. But it's easy enough to skip this thread if you think so, and it might just keep someone safe.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

Let's not get alarmist about all this. Davis Square is safe. Not only that, it's safer than it's ever been. Not only that, Powder House Square is safer than Davis. We do live in a city, so F'd up stuff can and does happen, but getting attacked is not the inevitable result of being a woman out running before dawn.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

This is true, but even in safe areas it's wise to take precautions.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

I love how everyone is all up in arms about this post and yelling at the OP for "self blaming the victim"...yet at the same time many of you are then not believing the "victim".

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I believe the "victim self-blaming" was directed towards the Craigslist poster, not the person who passed this on.

Speaking for myself, honestly if it were directly posted on this community, I would probably take it at face value. It's a statement from a person who has chosen to put themselves out there, which can be a difficult thing for a person who has experienced an attempted sexual assault to do. I certainly wouldn't bombard them with questions or question their version of events; that's inappropriate.

But it's not. It's an anonymous posting from Craigslist, one that mentions independent confirmation. And it's important to get that, because what if this posting is not legitimate, but rather an attempt to prank an individual or otherwise bring them to grief? You have to be careful what you believe on the Internet, and considering how opponents of anonymous reporting use false reports as evidence it shouldn't be allowed, if we can verify this incident, we should.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

OK, what have we learned here?

If this is an accurate first-person account of someone's experience, we learn that she was out running around 4 a.m. and was grabbed and threatened by someone whose grasp she fortunately escaped.

I'm not quite sure how that information would drive me to change my own behavior, but if others might be more cautious in the early morning hours than they currently are, perhaps it is helpful for this person to pass on her experience.

And, of course, it might be helpful for her to pass on the experience as part of her own process of dealing with her fright and anxiety in response to having been grabbed and threatened by a stranger.

That said, I'm not sure how much new or useful information this provides.

[duffless2323.livejournal.com]

I find it useful to know what is going on in my community, the good and bad.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I'm going to pick up on something both mattt and m00n have flagged here, and ask the original post to edit the headline.

"Possible rapist in Davis area" seems not as helpful as "Attempted assault reported at Powderhouse" or "Assault reported at Powderhouse" would be.

[ron_newman]

I agree. Unfortunately, LJ does not let moderators do this, or I'd do it myself.

BOOOOOOOOOGUS

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

The Police Department just confirmed that there is no such report, and they know of no such incident.

Just a little hiccup on the InterTubes, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along, please.

Re: BOOOOOOOOOGUS

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

God, it's great to have you in this community. Thanks for passing that along.

[brewso.livejournal.com]

Sorry, everybody. I acted on impulse in passing the information along and probably should have tried to corroborate the story a bit first. I'm relieved that it appears to have been a hoax and don't really understand why someone would bother posting something like that in the first place.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

ouch.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

Hey guys.

I posted the thing on craigslist.

No, it is NOT a bogus story.

The case was not assigned to a detective until TODAY (late in the afternoon). I have an appointment with him tomorrow.

The reason I posted on craigslist was because it's just another way of getting the word out there. I don't want to put up fliers around town because that would put me at risk. Feel free to email me. ladyraycello@yahoo.com if you have any questions. Thanks.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

how dare a city employee call my story a hoax.
he knows nothing.
and why would the police discuss this case with a total stranger????

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

Also because nothing ACTUALLY happened to me, the police probably isn't taking it as seriously as other things.

But the guy is STILL ON THE STREETS. He could do this to other people.

Nothing like this has EVER happened to me, and I figure that the best way to deal with it is to inform others. The more people that know the better.

I would give y'all a case # but that would be foolish on my part. Please trust that
1) This IS a true story
2) Even though Davis is safe (i live there and i love it) it only takes ONE asshole to fuck shit up.

I hope you all read this.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

Also because nothing ACTUALLY happened to me, the police probably isn't taking it as seriously as other things.

But the guy is STILL ON THE STREETS. He could do this to other people.

Nothing like this has EVER happened to me, and I figure that the best way to deal with it is to inform others. The more people that know the better.

I would give y'all a case # but that would be foolish on my part. Please trust that
1) This IS a true story
2) Even though Davis is safe (i live there and i love it) it only takes ONE asshole to fuck shit up.

I hope you all read this.

[etana.livejournal.com]

As an aside, detectives wouldn't necessarily be assigned to a police report. Your statement would have been taken, a report would have been issued to a patrol officer, s/he would investigate and in due time submit his findings in a report (ie. case number) to his supervisor. I'd be surprised if the responding officer were able to and willing to release the case number to you so soon, given that it's likely not completely written and approved (spell-checked, etc.) yet.
Though if you did file a report with the police, I can understand why the responding officer balked. It's much harder to track down an ambiguous description of a man after the incident occurred rather than in the midst - had you called the police immediately they would have had a better chance of catching the guy. Odds are he's gone home or such and your description (while somewhat thorough) won't be extra helpful in finding him.
Also it's not like he can be arrested for harassment.

I'm sorry if this happened to you, and I'm sorry that you feel like you learned a lesson - you have a right to travel at whatever time you so choose and not fear for your life. But note that the internet is full of hoax reports of attacks and most of us aren't going to readily accept such an alarmist post. Of course I'll be waiting for verification via blotter and such - if this is a case of attempted sexual assault there will be a BOLO issued to the general public informing citizens to be careful in the vincinity of where the incident occurred; this is a federally mandated requirement in incidents of sexual and certain violent crimes.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

sorry for the consecutive posts (here's another one)...
But I am DEAD SERIOUS about this stuff.
OK. I'm done. For now.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

sorry for the consecutive posts (here's another one)...
But I am DEAD SERIOUS about this stuff.
OK. I'm done. For now.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

asshole.

[brewso.livejournal.com]

Why, please?

A Heartfelt Apology

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Ladyraycello is absolutely right. I knew nothing -- and I had it on the best authority.

This IS a legitimate case; she DID file a report over the weekend; she WILL be interviewed by a detective tomorrow.

So, how did I err so egregiously, unfairly malign the reputation of the victim, mislead DSLJ readers and make such a fool of myself?

Certainly I assumed that brewso posted this message in good faith -- but I was deeply surprised to read it. Usually, the Mayor and I are briefed on incidents of this kind (except for confidential information about the victim and the alleged assailant)as soon as a report is received. Lots of people, including news organizations, listen to police radio scanners, and police commanders assume, often rightly, that I will get media calls on incidents, so they want me to be prepared. (In this one aspect, ladraycello is mistaken: I have very reason to believe that police commanders will be candid with me, especially when I make inquiries as a follow-up to a public report.)

Since neither the Mayor nor I had heard anything about this, I was slightly suspicious, but I didn't want to comment until I'd checked out the story with the police. Why would an incident like this surface on craigslist before a report had been filed? Why would I not know about the kind of thing I usually hear about as a matter of routine?

By late today (shortly before I filed what turned out to be a flip and hurtful post), I received "verification" from Police HQ that no one -- neither in the Somerville Police nor the Tufts Police -- had taken a report of this nature.

The problem was that the report HAD been taken, but that no one had notified the usual higher-ups, including the police command staff. No one from lieutenant on up was aware of this case until they went back to check with the rank and file that had been duty over the weekend.

So let me close with two points of which I am reasonably confident (although God knows I can't be confident of much anymore):

1. I apologize completely and unreservedly to ladyraycello for challenging her story on the basis of the misinformation I received. I apologize to brewso and anyone else who took that story at face value and passed it along in the public interest. And I apologize to my fellow DSLJers: usually my information is pretty good and this time it wasn't.

2. Although this case had not been properly reported up the chain of command, the investigation had already been set in motion and will be pursued vigorously by the bureau of detectives.

Ladyraycello wrote me privately to say, among other things, "It's sad to see your posts on livejournal."

She's right. Sorry, everyone.

Re: A Heartfelt Apology

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

this very well could be him. i'll definitely tell the detective about this. thank you so much...

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Your description doesn't sound like Mike to me. Mike doesn't have walleye (exotropia) for one thing, he's much older, and he has a very different hairstyle.

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

First and foremost, I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm glad you're ok and that you filed a report and are alerting others.

In regards to the replies. This is NOT a woman's issue alone. Men get attacked too. I've lived here my whole life [over 30 years] and am amazed that some of you think these city streets are so safe. I thought my friends neighbors were crazy for not locking the doors, she's constantly after them to lock the main doors. Not every thing gets reported in the newspaper. Better yet, not everything gets reported. When you know other people who have lived here so long you hear a lot about what is going on. You're in the city. Don't ever think you're so safe. It'd be great if we lived in times where streets were safe to roam at any hour, but we don't live in those times. We aren't as crime ridden as Dorchester but we aren't a perfectly safe city without crime either. This doesn't go for just Somerville, you should practice common sense everywhere.

I also wanted to note that the last paragraph wasn't in reply to ladyraycello.

update`

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

* it's not crazy mike

* I met with a sketch artist yesterday at the police station. The image will be seen soon by many

* the case is not classified as "simple assault" any more

* they ARE taking action and DO care about this case a lot. They apologized to me for not getting on it sooner.

p.s. since my livejournal account isn't fancy I cannot send any more private messages. but I can read yours.

[ladyraycello.livejournal.com]

I hope you all have been watching the news.