Boston Police Release Sketch Of Suspect in Arboretum Rape

Boston police last week released a composite sketch of a man suspected of raping a Jamaica Plain social worker at Harvard's Arnold Arboreturn 10 days ago.

Police described the assailant as a white male, 25 to 30 years old, six feet tall, with dark brown, medium length hair. The man weighs about 150 to 160 pounds, has high cheekbones, and was wearing a blue t-shirt and white sweat pants.

The 29-year-old victim was attacked May 14 as she jogged about 500 yards from the entrance to the 265-acre park. The assailant ran up behind her and pressed a knife to her neck, and then dragged her into some bushes.

The rape occurred a few hundred yards from the site of three other assaults which took place in the park in the last two months.

The victim told police that as she struggled with the assailant, she grabbed the knife and threw it into some heavy underbrush nearby.

Police officials at the Area E. police station in West Roxbury said yesterday that an extensive search of the area had not uncovered the weapon. They added that patrols in the area have been increased.

Peter Ashton, director of the Arboretum, said last week he hopes to initiate a park ranger program--at a cost of $50,000--to increase security because Boston police cannot adequately patrol the wooded sections of the complex.

The first in the series of assaults at the park occurred March 15 when a 28-year-old Jamaica Plain resident was jumped and repeatedly stabbed in broad daylight near the Walter and Bussey St. entrance to the Arboretum.