BRUNSWICK

Brunswick police were called to Belmont Street at 3 a.m. Thursday after getting a report that a man may have been masturbating in the area.

Brunswick Police Cmdr. Marc Hagan said a Bowdoin College security officer saw a man near the corner of Belmont and Oakland streets who was possibly masturbating and called Brunswick police.

“He was crouched down and his pants were down. When the officer got closer, the male stood up and it looked like he was masturbating,” Hagan said. The man then pulled up his pants and ran off.

Masturbating in public is considered indecent conduct, he said.

The suspect was described as a black male wearing all black in his late teens or early 20s, approximately 5-foot, 8-inches tall and weighing 130 to 140 pounds.

Hagan said so far there is nothing that ties this case into any of the incidents reported in the fall involving college students.

A 19-year-old student reported she was sexually assaulted by an unknown male who got inside her apartment through an unlocked exterior door at Mayflower Apartments on Belmont Street on Nov. 10, 2015. A week later, a 20-year-old student told police she was grabbed around the waist at around 8 p.m. while walking on Potter Street. Then on Dec. 13, a 19-year-old female student told police she was grabbed around the waist on Longfellow Avenue while walking to Brunswick Apartments.

Hagan said no charges have been filed related to the three complaints.

College responds

Doug Cook, the media relations director for Bowdoin College, noted that the incident Thursday morning took place more than 260 feet away from Mayflower Apartments. Asked if students live in housing where the incident occurred at Belmont and Oakland streets, he said, “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Despite the sensational media headlines, this incident took place on public property, not on or ‘outside’ college property,” said Randy Nichols, director of Bowdoin College’s Safety and Security department, in an email to several media sources Thursday. “The nearest ‘Bowdoin housing’ is Mayflower Apartments — nearly the length of a football field away.”

According to Nichols, a Bowdoin security officer on patrol saw the unidentified man at the intersection of Belmont and Oakland streets while driving a student passenger to Mayflower Apartments. He reported that the man “was in a half-squatting position with his athletic shorts down and that one hand was at or covering his groin area. When the man saw the approaching security vehicle, he reached down and quickly pulled up his shorts and continued walking east on Belmont Street toward Maine Street.”

Nichols said the officer safely delivered the student to her residence hall and then approached the man as he was walking on Belmont.

“The officer did not have the authority to detain the man, and after a brief interaction the man departed north through the local neighborhood,” he said.

He added, “It is important to note that while our officer assumed the man was engaged in lewd behavior (and that this is how Bowdoin security reported the incident to the Brunswick police), no specific indecent conduct was observed. The fact is that we do not know exactly what the person was doing.”

Added security?

Hagan said the police department will not increase officer presence with additional manpower. Officers are aware of the incident and will increase their patrols in that area.

“We have no reason to believe that there is a threat to the campus community but, as always, we will continue to patrol areas near Bowdoin student residences and report any suspicious behavior to local police,” said Nichols.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

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