Westwood man turns himself in for Fenway rape

The Westwood man who Boston police Commissioner William B. Evans said turned himself in yesterday for the rape of a woman in the Fenway will be arraigned today in Roxbury District Court.

“It’s a very serious crime: A young lady just walking down the street, minding her own business, is dragged into her apartment and very viciously sexually assaulted,” Evans said of the allegations against Michael J. Purpura, 36, of Westwood. “There’s no connection between him and this young female.”

Evans said that at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Purpura followed a 22-year-old woman “from around the Boylston-Kilmarnock Street area to her apartment on Queensberry Street and sexually assaulted her.”

Evans said Purpura’s appearance matches the suspect captured by street-view surveillance video police released Friday to help put college students in the neighborhood on alert, and which he said led to a break in the case and Purpura’s identification.

“A lot of the public saw that video of that suspect leaving the scene and walking in that area,” Evans said yesterday. “We canvassed, we recanvassed, we got videos, but (it’s because of) some information from businesses around who had seen this individual and some of the neighbors, that we were able to get an identity. For the last 12 hours we’ve been all over the place trying to hunt this individual down. He knew we were on him and he turned himself into Medford P.D.”

Evans declined to say whether Purpura has a criminal record or is being looked at in connection with any other sexual assaults.

“This was a vicious attack, unprovoked,” Evans said, “and I’m glad we got him off the streets.”

The Rev. Joseph F. Purpura of Westwood, an Orthodox minister, declined to comment on his son’s arrest.