BRUNSWICK, Maine — A Bowdoin College security officer reported early Thursday morning that he spotted a man allegedly engaged in lewd public behavior near the college’s Mayflower Apartments housing complex on Belmont Street, according to police.
Brunswick police officers were dispatched to the Mayflower Apartment complex near the intersection of Belmont and Oakland streets at about 3 a.m., after the security officer reported the man, who was allegedly standing with his pants at his ankles and his hand on his genitals, according to Cmdr. Marc Hagan of the Brunswick Police Department.
The security officer, who was driving by at the time, reportedly confronted the man, who then ran north on Maine Street, Hagan said. Police checked the area but found nothing.
Hagan said it’s unclear whether a female college student with the security officer also witnessed the incident.
The man is described as a black male, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 130 to 140 pounds, in his late teens or early 20s.
In November, college officials said they would increase security in the area after a female student reported being sexually assaulted in her apartment at the Mayflower Apartments complex. Residents of the apartments were offered housing on the campus if they wanted to move.
Shortly afterward, female students in two separate incidents reported being grabbed by men on streets adjacent to the college.
Police later released a composite sketch of a “person of interest” who may have been involved in the sexual assault. The white man was estimated to be in his late 20s, slender and between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall.
In an email to the Bangor Daily News on Thursday morning, Bowdoin College spokesman Doug Cook said he understood the report of a suspicious person near the corner of Belmont and Oakland streets “had nothing to do with Bowdoin or Mayflower Apartments.”
“Bowdoin Safety and Security issues security warnings when they are warranted,” Cook said. “It’s my understanding that with what is known at this point there is no call for that. Beyond that, it’s a police matter.”
Later on Thursday, Bowdoin security chief Randy Nichols sent an email to the college community. According to the email, a college security officer who was driving a student to Mayflower Apartments at 3 a.m. Thursday saw a man at the intersection of Belmont and Oakland streets and reported to police 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.” The man walked away when he saw the security vehicle.
After delivering the student to Mayflower Apartments, the security officer approached the man, who then left, headed north, Nichols continued. The security guard then called police.
“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,” Nichols wrote. “The fact is that we do not know exactly what the person was doing.”
Students at Bowdoin are about to begin final exams and graduation is scheduled for Saturday, May 28.