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Boston police commissioner increases patrols after three recent attacks

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Boston Police Commissioner William Evans is asking for the public's help in finding the suspect who brazenly attacked three women in East Boston.

Evans says officers are looking at surveillance video in the area and have increased patrols.

"We have a lot of undercover officers out there, a lot of increased visible patrol," Evans said.

He also said what happened in East Boston on Monday is not related to a weekend attack on a woman in Boston's North End.

"The one in the North End is a fair haired kid, spikey hair, wearing a pea coat. This was clearly a Spanish male, very intoxicated," Evans said.

Police say the first attack in East Boston happened Monday, at 4:30 p.m. on Trenton Street.

They say a woman was taking out the trash when the suspect pushed her down and tore her pants. She fought him off and was taken to a local hospital.

The second attack happened about 20 minutes later on Trenton Street. A woman was walking into her apartment building when a man came up from behind and pushed her to the ground. She screamed, and he took off.

Just a few hours later, at 8 p.m., on nearby Chelsea Street, a suspect pulled a knife on a woman and tried to sexually assault her. She fell to the ground and the suspect took off. The suspect in all three cases, smelled like alcohol.

City Councilor Sal Lamattina, who represents both East Boston and the North End, said, "I take this personally as a husband and father, I have a daughter who walks the streets of East Boston and the North End at nighttime. It really concerns me."

Women who live in the area say they'd like to see more patrols, especially at night.

"I definitely don't see enough police around at night. Because I come home late usually, a lot of times, and I don't like walking by myself," one resident said.

In all three cases in East Boston, the suspect is described as a clean-shaven Hispanic man, wearing a black baseball hat, black coat, and in two of those attacks, women described a noticeable mole or some kind of mark on his left cheek.