Police look for ‘prowler’ peeking in window

McMaster students urged to lock doors

Hamilton police are combing through reported break-ins and other crimes in the Westdale neighbourhood to see if any are tied to recent incidents where young women woke to a man in their bedrooms.

In the latest incident Tuesday night, police said a woman — living in an all-female student house on Haddon Avenue North — caught a “prowler” looking into a second-storey window as she walked upstairs, said Const. Lorraine Edwards.

“It appears that the male may have been standing on the rooftop of a garage that is in very (close) proximity to the home,” she said, adding that he didn’t do or say anything, but fled when the “very startled” young woman ran upstairs to her roommates.

Police set up a perimeter and searched for the man, including with the canine unit, but found no one.

This comes amid heightened concern in the neighbourhood about two incidents where women woke to a stranger in their rooms — one including a sexual assault.

Both of these incidents also involved young women in student rental houses.

So far, police cannot say with certainty whether any of the incidents are linked, but police are investigating that possibility, said Const. Lorraine Edwards.

“We haven’t been able to link these, we’re still investigating,” she said, later adding that “obviously they have some similarities.”

In response, police have stepped up enforcement in the area, including canvassing, looking for witnesses and speaking with businesses, Edwards said.

Police have spoken with McMaster University and are asking residents to lock doors and windows and be “aware of their surroundings.”

The “prowler” Tuesday night was described as being in his early 20s, white, with blond hair that covered his forehead. He was wearing a black baseball hat.

On Aug. 3, a 21-year-old woman in a house on Sterling Street woke around 5:45 a.m. to find a man touching her sexually.

The man, who had climbed in through an unlocked secondstorey window, fled out the door when she screamed.

On Aug. 28, at a house a few blocks away on Bond Street South, a young woman woke at 6:15 a.m. to see a man in her room. He fled when the woman screamed.

Hamilton police are asking residents in the area to report suspicious activity to police at 905-546-4861 or McMaster security dispatch at 905-525-9140, ext. 24281.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call police at 905-540-5545.