Student reports Esplanade robbery

Sixth reported robbery in a month; police release suspect sketch for March 29 attack

PUBLISHED by The Daily Free Press

Two men pulled a knife on a Boston University student walking on the Esplanade near the Sherborn Street bridge, took his wallet, iPod and cellphone and then told the victim to get out of the area, Friday night around 11 p.m., police said.



The victim described his attackers as two Hispanic men in their late teens or early 20s, both about 155 pounds and between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-8, said BU Police Department Sgt. Jefferey Burke. They were both wearing dark jackets and dark skull caps.

Another robbery the same night was reported to the Boston Police Department around the same time, further down the Esplanade away from the Charles River Campus, BUPD Sgt. Jack St. Hilaire said. The victims gave similar descriptions of their attackers, St. Hilaire said.

BPD has not released a sketch of the Esplanade attackers, Burke said.

BUPD has made available a sketch of another man suspected of attacking a woman on Park Drive March 29, St. Hilaire said. The men are not thought to be the same, and Boston police will likely use the Esplanade robbery victims' descriptions to create a sketch this week, he said.

"A picture is worth a thousand words," St. Hilaire said. "We can't put out a sketch if victims can't identify the person, because it's dark and the person is covered."

The victim of the March 29 robbery was able to see her attacker, who made off with her wallet, St. Hilaire said.

The man, described as a "heavyset black male in his 30s," robbed the Law School student near Audubon Circle in South Campus. He stepped out from behind a U-Haul truck, took the victim's wallet and fled, police said last week.

Police are not connecting the Park Drive incident with a string of robberies in West Campus near Commonwealth Avenue, including three March 8 and a robbery and indecent assault March 30, St. Hilaire said.

"We have a high level of confidence that it's not the same person," St. Hilaire said. "There was one reported to us Friday night, one was reported to Boston, and the rest of the suspects were described the same way . . . The one that's dissimilar is the dark male on 463 [Park Drive]."

Burke said the Park Drive suspect is still at large, and the attack is not related to previous attacks. Burke said he assumes the sketch was not released until April 3 because "sometimes people aren't available for follow-up right away."

BPD spokesman Eddy Chrispin said the agency is participating in an ongoing and active investigation to find the Park Drive suspect, but they have nothing to announce thus far.

On Saturday night, a man who attempted to rob a woman in Allston near the Massachusetts Turnpike was arrested, according to a BPD incident report.

Officers responded to a radio call reporting the attempted assault around 9:26 p.m., and found a large double-edged knife in the pocket of Oscar Renderos, 25, according to the report. He was charged with assault with intent to rob and carrying a dangerous weapon, the report states.