Police Chase Down Alleged Masturbator

After a chase through Harvard Square, Cambridge Police Department (CPD) officers arrested a man at around 7 p.m. yesterday for allegedly masturbating in public view in a Mt. Auburn Street window.

The suspect will now be questioned about alleged “lewd and lascivious behavior,” according to Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) spokesperson Steven G. Catalano.

While the case falls under CPD jurisdiction, Catalano said that an HUPD officer who was in the area at the time assisted in the arrest.

The arrest came after a chase that started in the area around Peet’s Coffee and Tea at 100 Mt. Auburn St. and ended directly in front of the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC).

CPD Sergeant James DeFranceso said last night that CPD was in the process of booking someone from Harvard Square, but could not comment further at the time.

A Harvard undergraduate who wished to remain anonymous said she saw a man masturbating through a window overlooking Mt. Auburn Street, in the building between Peet’s Coffee and Tea and the Pyara Salon, at around 6:45 p.m. yesterday.

“All the blinds were down except for one. He was masturbating behind a floor-to-ceiling window,” the student said. The student said she then called HUPD, who transferred her to CPD, with whom she reported the incident.

According to a worker for Ultimate Parking, a valet service at 93 Winthrop St., two CPD officers questioned him about a suspicious individual in the area. Moments later, the worker said he noticed the suspect in the alley at 93 Winthrop St.

“He [the suspect] darted across the street with the officers chasing after him,” said the worker, who wished to remain anonymous.

Christopher P. Gross, an employee at Peet’s Coffee and Tea, said he also saw uniformed officers running past Pinocchio’s Pizzeria on Winthrop Street yesterday.

Jisoo Kim ’07 said she was shopping at Berk’s Shoes on the corner of Winthrop and JFK Streets, when a salesperson at the store shouted that police were chasing someone down the street.

After leaving the store, Kim said she saw the police gathered around a man lying handcuffed on the ground between two cars in front of the MAC.

“I saw a guy tackle him into the car with the cops running after him,” said John F. Voith ’07, who was also in the area at the time. “He was running down the back of the MAC.”

Gross said he had heard of a similar incident six to eight months ago in which a person allegedly exposed himself or herself in public view near Peet’s Coffee and Tea.

—Staff writer Adam P. Schneider can be reached at aschneid@fas.harvard.edu.