Police Alert Community of Assaults

Local police have alerted the public to one or more suspects carrying out sexual assaults against women following an incident in Somerville.

The Somerville Police Department is investigating an indecent assault and battery that occurred late last Thursday.

At roughly 11:30 p.m., a 23 year old woman was attacked as she was walking alone from the Porter Square T station to a friend’s house.

The suspect approached her from behind at the corner of Elm and Holyoke road.

She was then pushed into a car and “indecently assaulted,” which police say constitutes an attack with sexual overtones but not rape. After she screamed, the attacker ran away.

Authorities said the victim described the attacker as a white male with a dark complexion, roughly 5-foot-8, and clean-shaven. The victim said the attacker was wearing jeans and a black hoodie.

Police have released a sketch of the subject.

On Monday afternoon, the Harvard University Police Department issued a community advisory to alert young women to the assault, urging them to take caution when walking alone at night.

According to Somerville police, this is the latest in a string of similar incidents near MBTA stops in Cambridge and Somerville over the past few weeks. Although there are similarities between the assaults, police have not yet said the attacks were committed by the same person.

Early on Saturday morning, another attack occurred near Tufts University in Medford when a female student was sexually assaulted near campus.

Her attacker also fled when she struggled.

Somerville Police are joining with Transit Police, local police, and police from Harvard and Tufts in Cambridge and Somerville in an effort to identify and apprehend the suspect or suspects.

Representatives from the police departments met today to compare investigative notes and identify possible suspects.

­—Staff writer Julia K. Nguyen can be reached at julianguyen@college.harvard.edu.