Rapist Posing as Cabbie Causing Fear in City

For many women in Boston, an evening of drinking with friends ends with hailing a cab and heading home for the night. Yet, no matter what inebriated state one might be in, police are telling all women to keep their guard up as a man posing as a cab driver has picked up two women separately in the Faneuil Hall area, driven them to Cambridge, and sexually assaulted them. In one case, the man picked up a woman in a dark-colored SUV, drove her to the Alewife T station, assaulted her and left her there. The second assault was almost exactly the same but the man was driving a white car that looked like a Boston cab.

The Boston Police Department now has a sketch of the man and has been distributing flyers to bar and restaurant owners in the Faneuil Hall area, hoping to have local business owners get involved in finding the rapist. Obviously, travelling with someone in a cab home is always helpful, but if not possible, police suggest to take notice of the cab license number, which is found on a medallion on the tailgate of all registered taxis. You can also take note of the cabbie's license, which should be on display inside the cab itself.

Bostonist knows that a few drinks can cause you to keep your guard down, which means you're not going to remember to jot down a cab's number. But a helpful cab driver who drove Bostonist home yesterday asked if we had a camera phone (which we do); he suggested taking a photo of the cab's information. Bostonist thought this was a pretty smart and easy tip for all you ladies out there travelling via taxi in the coming weeks.