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More police to patrol Somerville Community Path as teens allegedly harass residents
Several locals have taken to social media to describe unnerving encounters with young people assaulting or harassing people on the Somerville Community Path.
More police officers will patrol a mile-and-a-half stretch of the Somerville Community Path after reports of groups of young people harassing walkers and bikers.
“The SPD is aware of incidents involving juveniles on the bike path. A detective has been assigned to investigate further,” the city said in a statement. “To date, there have been no reports made to the SPD regarding assaults on the bike path, however we are aware of incidents involving juveniles engaging in harassing behavior.”
The Somerville Community Path begins at the border of North Cambridge and Somerville at Massachusetts Avenue. It continues through Davis Square, parallel to Highland Avenue past the high school and the Somerville Public Library’s Central Branch. From there, it follows the Green Line extension until hitting the Minuteman Bikeway in East Cambridge close to Boston.
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The Somerville Police Department said there will be more officers near Davis Square, in the area of Lowell and Cedar streets, and near Somerville High School.
The mile-and-a-half stretch between Davis and the high school is separated from the road, offering an almost completely tree-lined respite for residents of the densest city in New England.
But, several recent social media posts have described unnerving encounters for walkers and joggers. Last week, a Reddit user, who did not reply to a request for more information, described three people in their early teens hanging out on the path, including one who allegedly ran at the poster, yelling in their face and waving their arms.
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The incident, which happened in the afternoon, was near Lowell Street, where there’s an overpass, the anonymous poster said.
“This was clearly done to intentionally freak me out, which worked,” the person posted, noting “this particular kid has gone out of his way to scare people on the path.”
Earlier this summer, the same kid allegedly biked directly at the poster and their partner and called them an expletive.
“We physically avoided him, but he nearly caused an accident with another biker behind us,” the poster said. “This is obviously unpleasant, misguided, semi-malicious, attention-seeking behavior. I’m sure that at some point he’s going to get seriously hurt, hurt someone else, and/or get in major trouble with the law.”
Another post made a few days later describes a woman being “groped” and pushed down by a teen.
The incident allegedly happened near the same underpass near a dog park north of Albion Playground. An adult yelled at the boy, and the group of kids scattered, the post said. It was unclear if the woman, who was walked off the path to safety, contacted the police.
“It was awful and alarming,” the poster, who said they witnessed the incident, wrote. The poster did not reply to a request for more information.
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Last September, the Somerville Public Library, which is off the Community Path, closed during after-school hours due to “teen behavior concerns.” The library went back to its normal hours later in the month, with private security in place.
Last year, a man was attacked by a group of juveniles in the afternoon outside the library, according to Somerville police logs.
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