The Week That Was - 7 Years Ago

Let's go back a few years and see what was happening, Bridgeport Post-Style:

Upper West Side Stalker Sought: "A Menace," Police Say

(AP) MARCH 10, 2001 NEW YORK, NEW YORK - City police are looking for a man who they claim went on a stalking rampage last Saturday night and early Sunday morning, victimizing several women in the bars that line Amsterdam Avenue. The suspect has been described as a tall, thin, white male and police are working with a sketch artist to produce fliers that will be distributed to local residents.

"At this time, we're looking for a caucasian male, late 20s to early 30s, short dark hair, possibly with a serious drinking problem," Detective Luis Alfonseca stated at a 20th Precinct news conference. "There are indications that the perpetrator of these alleged incidents is not a resident of Manhattan. His lack of drinking sophistication and reports of his wearing some sort of Mormon-style short sleeve dress shirt in mid-winter seem to indicate that the suspect may reside in another locale, but we're certainly not dealing with a native here." Police officials have also indicated that they are seeking a second man in connection with the incidents, though they refuse to label him a suspect. "We just want to talk to him, to see if he knew this guy or knows where this guy is from. At this time, there are no indications that he committed any crimes, but we would like him to come down and talk to us."

The incidents began around 11:30 p.m.. One of the complainants, a Columbia University coed who refused to identify herself for this story reported that the lanky suspect accosted her and her friends. "He said something like, 'My friend Rob is thirty,' and we were like, 'OK,' then he told my friend Sarah that he had 'access' to an aerobed. The guy was real creepy and real tall, and he kept leaning in and touching me and my friends on the shoulder." Several other complainants describe similar "lean-ins" as well as close-talking and inappropriate tactile advances.

Thomas Kendale, a doorman at Bourbon Street, confronted the man. "I told him that if he didn't stop touching the girls, I was going to have to ask him to leave. He said something like, 'What about my pain?' This guy was completely out of control. Then this other guy came over and said, 'Don't worry, dog, I'm on the job.' I don't know if they were together or not." Doorman Leroy McKinney from the nearby Gin Mill had a similar story. "This tall skinny guy comes up to the door and he's swaying like crazy. Then he leans in to the woman in front of him in line and asks her something like, 'Do you know my friend Bill. He lives in Manhattan.' Then the guy starts howling like that was really funny. I told him he couldn't come in because he was too drunk. He said, 'Rejection tastes like pain,' or something like that. Then this other guy came up and was like, 'Yo, dog, it's OK, I'm on the job.' I told him I didn't care, his friend wasn't coming in." The pair were later seen arguing on 86th street.

Police would not confirm reports that the assailant's companion was wearing carpenter pants.

The assailant's rampage continued for several hours, and by Wednesday morning, police had received 24 complaints. "This guy is a one man Puerto Rican Day parade," one anonymous police official confided to the New York Post.

Det. Alfonseca said that police were looking into several leads. He would not confirm reports that police were looking in the New Hampshire and Maine areas for the suspect. "There are indications that we're dealing with a New Englander, but there are also indications that the suspect may be merely mentally impaired, autistic, or even Canadian. I can't compromise our investigation by going into any further details. If you see this suspect, my best advice is to just get away from him as quickly as possible."