Police have released surveillance videos that show a man they suspect is responsible for randomly attacking 10 men in less than three weeks in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Waltham police posted video to their Facebook page Saturday evening, asking the public to help them identify the individual seen in the video. One video shows the suspect walking, and the other shows him running away. The person seen in the video is considered a suspect in the recent string of unprovoked assaults around the city, police said.
The most recent attack happened around 8 p.m. Friday on Chestnut Street. It was the tenth time a man had been randomly attacked in Waltham since Nov. 10.
"A guy that was just struck by a metal pipe,” Angel Farrell said of the attack. "Just hearing about it — it was kind of shocking, you know. And, like I said, it’s so close to home.”
All of the unprovoked attacks have happened between 5:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. while the victims were walking alone in the city. The victims were attacked from behind, police said.
“How someone could get away with these attacks in Waltham is crazy,” said David Hay, who lives just feet away from where Friday's attack happened.
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Hay says he never noticed anything unusual.
“I was upstairs in my room — my bedroom. It overlooks the street. I got the window pulled up, I got the captain’s windows up there. So, I’m looking," he said. "I’m actually — I’m on my computer and every once in a while I look to the left and I’m looking down the street. I didn’t see or hear anything.”
The first five attacks happened at the sprawling GardenCrest apartment complex, but more recent attacks have happened in the downtown area near Chestnut and Charles streets.
Speaking in Spanish, David Cameros told NBC10 Boston that he was one of the 10 victims.
Cameros says he was outside the apartment complex smoking when the suspect whacked him in the head with what he thinks was a bat. The attack left him with a fractured skull among other injuries.
The suspect also attacked a mail carrier, prompting the U.S. Postal Service to change his route so that he wraps up before it gets dark.
With the attacks on Waltham residents so random, Farrell says he is staying inside except to go to work.
“I’m staying inside, you know? I go to work, I go home, I stay inside,” he said.
Police have asked Waltham residents, regardless of where they live in the city, to be extra aware of their surroundings.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Waltham Police Department at 781-314-3600 (option 4) or the anonymous tip line at 781-314-3636.
