Police called after stranger spotted in Westdale backyard

Hamilton police were once again called to Westdale overnight for a suspected prowler after someone was spotted in a student residence backyard.

However, this latest incident doesn’t appear to involve any break-in or other activity and police say it remains unclear if any incidents are connected.

Police were called to the house on Westwood Avenue, near Cline Avenue South, shortly after 1 a.m. after someone was spotted in the yard, said Const. Lorraine Edwards.

The backyard isn’t fenced in. Police, including the canine unit, searched the area but didn’t find anyone.

The community is on high alert after several incidents where a man broke into the rooms of young women and where a man was spotted standing on a garage roof, peering into a second-storey window.

On Aug. 3, a 21-year-old woman in a student 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. He wore a dark hoodie over his head.

On Aug. 28, at a student 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. In this incident, the man entered through an unlocked front door and fled when the woman screamed.

On Tuesday night around 11 p.m., a young woman living in an all-female student house on Haddon Avenue North was walking upstairs when she saw a man looking in a second-storey window. He fled after she ran upstairs to alert her roommates. The area was searched, but no one was found.

In this incident, the suspect was described as being in his early 20s, white, with blond hair that covered his forehead. He was wearing a black baseball hat.

Police have stepped up enforcement in Westdale and are asking residents to make sure doors and windows are locked and to report suspicious activity.

While there are similarities between the incidents, police cannot say if they are linked. The possibility that they’re linked is under investigation by police, who are also looking through other break-in and prowling incidents in the neighbourhood.

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.

For a crime in progress, call 911. Anyone with information on the crimes are asked to call police at 905-540-5545.

To remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.