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Police: Woman jumped by three men in the Fens, raped by one
By adamg on Sat, 10/24/2009 - 5:20pm
Boston Police report a woman walking on Agassiz Road around 12:30 a.m. today was knocked to the ground by three backpack-wearing men and dragged into the brush, where one of the men raped her. After he was done, the three ran toward Park Drive, police say.
The rapist is described as a white Hispanic male in his early 20s, about 5'8", wearing a dark hoodie and jeans. The other two are described as black, in their early 20s, one wearing a zipped-up hoodie and dark jeans.
If they sound familiar, call the Sexual Assault Unit at 617-343-4400, or contact the anonymous tip line - 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting TIP to CRIME (27463).
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Comments
I used to walk down that
I used to walk down that street multiple times a week between midnight and 5 am, so I was always on the lookout for suspicious characters. If I were a young woman walking alone, I think I'd be even more careful. I hope those thugs are caught.
It's pretty laughable, looking at the BPD "Safety Tips" at the bottom of the police report. "Hold your car keys in your hand to use as a weapon against an attacker." Heaven forbid they make it easy for law-abiding residents to use any real weapons for self-defense.
Ive walked across the fens
Ive walked across the fens at night multiple times. Its not the most fun. Last time I saw 4 men hunched in a circle under a bush (looked like drug trade). Too bad the police are too busy breaking up parties at night to care.
This is yet another example
This is yet another example why the city needs to get off it's ass and cut down the overgrown reeds in the Fens.
What happened to the
What happened to the additional police presence in the Fens plan?
I've never cut through that part of the Fens at night, but have walked along the area and, sadly, even then it doesn't feel safe.
The extra police patrols are
The extra police patrols are along the back side of the Victory Gardens. The invasive reeds are so overgrown and thick between this area and Agassiz Road they'd never be able to see or hear anything. We are talking about a 40-50ft waterway completed chocked with 14ft tall reeds as thick as shag carpet.
Then let's, you know, have
Then let's, you know, have the police patrol the entire area, not just one little spot.
The Muddy River is a cesspool
It's a surreal no man's land, polluted, with plenty of places to hide, and from which to pounce.
Who is supposed to take care of that area? City, state? I've twice seen Gov. Dukakis picking up trash along the river, on his way home from teaching.
That's about it.
Both the city and state are
Both the city and state are responsible for maintaining the park. The Army Corps of Engineers will be day-lighting the areas of the Muddy River in culverts sometime next year and as part of that project there will be cleaning, dredging, repair of natural habitat, riverbanks, and erradication of all invasive species including the immensely problematic phragmities reeds. The state and city dithered for over three decades and now the Feds are jumping in because of the major flooding in 1996.
In the meantime the city and state could be doing more the control the problem by seasonal mowing, but that has proven to be a stupidly complicated and overly political situation. No one wants to pay for the work, the local environmental protection office seems to think they need to protect invasive species as they lack the slightest hint of common sense, and the use of the reeds for sexual activity always leads to charges of persecution or morality policing. One giant mess over cutting down that shouldn't be there, which has festered, and only gotten worse over time.
In the past week some invasive trees, brush, tons of litter, and reeds close the shore behind the war memorial were removed to dramatically open up views across that section of the waterway. Unfortunately, that didn't continue to the areas directly abutting Agassiz Road.
If one looks at pictures of the park before the invasive species were there, it's amazing to see how open the area was. There are so many scenic vistas which currently are impossible to imagine. I don't think most people realize how much water and how wide the river is because of how overgrown it has become. It will likely be far safer when the Corps finishes its work and people can see through the park more easily. Until then, the city and state really need to stop dragging their feet and get to mowing.
Why this wasn't fast tracked as a stimulus construction project is beyond me. Seems like it would be a boon for manual labor jobs to get people through a year worth of a depression.
Removing phragmites
Isn't the real problem here that phragmites are nearly impossible to eradicate unless you use harsh chemical herbicides that nobody wants to use because they'd pollute the rivers?
That Army Corps of Engineers
That Army Corps of Engineers is going to dredge out their root bulbs and use a milder herbicide which will prevent any remaining material from regrowing. In the meantime the city or state could be mowing on a regular basis during the growing season.
The area in the Fens where
The area in the Fens where this horrible crime occurred is notoriously dangerous (prostitution, assaults, drug activity) and littered with disgusting debris (used condoms, human waste, needles).
See this 2006 Boston Globe article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art... [``Basically, everything's here," he says. ``Sex, drugs, robberies, muggings."] FYI: nothing has changed since 2006.
Why hasn't the city cleaned this up? Because the city is afraid of backlash from certain members of the gay community who consider the Fens their personal sex park.
For DECADES this area has been a well-known gay sex and crime venue. It is full of numerous dark hiding areas (unacceptable in any well-maintained park) that provide cover for criminals (and gay sex) and any suggestion that the overgrowth be cut down and that BPD patrol to help ensure safety is met with accusations of civil rights violations from certain members of the gay community.
What happened yesterday is a tragedy and more such crimes will occur if the city doesn't take a strong measures against crime in this area.
Not true
For a "Fenway Resident," you know very little about the community right outside your front door.
The area in which the woman was attacked is NOT the gay sex area, is not littered with condoms, etc. The area of which you speak is the victory garden area which is completely separate from this area.
The area of this attack is a public road, open to automobiles. The "crime-ridden" area of which you speak is only open to foot traffic as it exists inside a public park.
The peoblem is that the Boston Police (at Mennino's direction) are lying in wait in the inside of the victory gardens park, waiting to question any gay men who walk through, because of recent complaints from well-connected gardeners.
Unfortunately, the general public has to suffer because while all the police presence in that area is concentrated in the gay area of the victory gardens, a woman was attacked on a public, well-trafficked roadway right nearby.
Perhaps the police would be better off fighting real crime instead of trying to expel trysting gay men from a public park in which no one travels at night excpet for gay men.
I feel sorry for people who live in the Fenway area who use this now unsafe stretch of public road to get home because the police are too busy intimidating gay people to focus on actual crime such as this.
In response to Anon who is
In response to Anon who is clearly trying to safeguard his sex park, the overgrown area along Agassiz road has numerous enclaves often littered with used condoms and other waste. This area is simply an extension of your Victory Gardens/reeds playground where you don't have the decency to keep clean after your "trysting." (btw, nice euphemism.) In fact, park goers regularly see used condoms throughout the Fens, in more secluded areas, which indicates that your "trysting" activities are not relegated to the Victory Gardens area. I agree that the general public unfortunately has to suffer, but the suffering is not caused by BPD's presence, but by the ongoing, disgusting activity in our public park that has generated crime and hazardous debris. FYI: it's Fenway residents at large who are fighting to clean up our park, and not just a number of "well-connected gardeners."
re: "well-trafficked roadway"
At 12:30 a.m. on a night without a Red Sox game? False.
Even on game nights, by 12:30 a.m. this area is relatively quiet.
Lots of muggings just around the corner by the art school.
It's dark, quiet and sparsely trafficked at that time of night.
You are perpetrating a lie or just plain ignorant.
Horrible
These 'men' are cowards and deserve the harshest sentence possible.
-RB
PLEASE CALL!
The gay sex, drugs, hiding places ALL contribute to the break-down of a community and a neighborhood. THIS IS NOT A GAY ISSUE and some people in the gay community has complained to the city once they started to mow. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!! Just because your "playground" is being destroyed you've slowed down the progress to a safer community and park for all. I beg and urge of all RESIDENTS who live in the Fenway contact the parks dept and you state reps to allow for mowing. If the masses depend it then we will achieve success!!!
I agree
I have lived in the Fenway for a long time and completely agree. This is a PUBLIC SAFETY issue. Unfortunately, a small group (most likely not Fenway residents) have tried to turn cleaning up the Fens into a gay civil rights issue, which would be laughable but for their impeding making the park safe for EVERYONE. The city needs to maintain BPD presence and mow down the reeds and overgrowth that provide hiding places for criminals.
i think it's really interesting...
how in this thread a violent heterosexual rape became the fault of consenting homosexual sex.
True enough
But regardless, as far as I know nobody is supposed to have sex in public. The extent to which that actually goes on in the Fens (heterosexual or homosexual) is unknown to me, but it's all pretty illegal.
not true...
we have discussed this topic before, most recently in relation to the Fens, but sex outdoors in a public space is not necessarily illegal. if you have a reasonable expectation of privacy it might be perfectly legit.
Whoa.
I did not know that. Can one have a reasonable expectation of privacy in an urban area? And if not, I guess that raises the question of discrimination between urban dwellers and suburbanites. How about indecent exposure?
Very interesting. Where was that thread?
yeah, it'a all sort of interesting...
...a lot actually goes in to whether it is a crime or not -- did you have a reasonable expectation of privacy, were you trespassing, could children have seen you, did you want to get caught, etc.
one thread discussing it is here. as you can see, people get a wee bit heated over this ;)