Site Search
Two incidents, one description: bearded man in 50s
By PAT GROSSMITH
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Friday, Nov. 6, 2009
BEDFORD – Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who followed a Bedford High School student Tuesday night as she left the school.
The 16-year-old student told police she was leaving the school's auditorium at 6:50 p.m. when a white man in his mid-50s with short gray hair and a beard, began to follow her. The man never spoke to her but followed the student as she walked to and got into her vehicle.
The teen said the man got into a mid-size, dark-colored SUV or van and proceeded to follow her as she drove out of the school's parking lot. When she reached a heavily populated parking lot at a business, however, the man turned his vehicle around and drove away.
.jpg)
Composite of Bedford suspect
She described the man as being about 5-foot-10, weighing 160 to 180 pounds and with a medium build. He was wearing blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt.
Four days earlier in Manchester, on Thursday, Oct. 29, a 17-year-old Memorial High School student told police she was grabbed by a bearded man in his 50s as she was returning to school after retrieving an item she left in her car parked on a nearby city street.
The student told police the man pulled up alongside her in a red pickup truck. When she ignored him, he got out of the truck and grabbed her arms. Police said the teen fought off her assailant, broke away and ran and hid in some nearby woods until she saw him drive off in the truck.
Police said that incident took place about 9:45 a.m. on South Porter Street between Cambridge Circle and Roysan Street, a few hundred feet from the high school.
The assailant was described as a white man in his 50s, about 5-feet-10-inches tall and thin. He had short brown hair with some gray and a full beard. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.
Manchester Police Capt. Gerald Lessard said there are similarities between the two incidents but police have yet to determine if they are related. "We are following up on that with the Bedford Police Department," he said.
No other incidents have been reported in Manchester, according to Lessard.
Anyone with information about with incident should call Bedford police at 472-5113, Bedford Crime Line at 472-8999, Manchester police at 668-8711 or Manchester Crimeline at 624-4040.

.jpg)


Print
Email
Mobile
Reader comments
YOUR COMMENTS
Yes, Jose, I re-read and you were right. I think the whole creepy-guy thing got a hold of my good senses. I apologize and will brush up on my reading comprehension skills.
- Tim K, Jaffrey
First, smart kid for driving into a busy crowded parking lot.
Second, where are all those high tech cameras BCTV (read your comcast dollars) donated to the high school?
We get a freakin auditorium that can host an orchestra but we can't put cameras on the school grounds?
- Mary Mags, Bedford
Why aren't these kids using their cell phones to take a picture of the guy! We all know that EVERY teenager has a phone and knows darn well how to use it.
Take a picture of the perp!
- Martha Griffin, Manchester NH
I'm sure the Left-Wing moonbats in our state justice department will gave this dirtbag only a slap on the wrist.
- Mac Wade, Newmarket
Ah, the lost skill of reading comprehension.
Tim K., please reread my post. I made a clear distinction between the Bedford incident in which a creepy guy didn't break any laws, and the Memorial incident in which laws were broken.
- Jose H., Manchester, NH
When I was in college the first thing they taught us at orientation was how to be safe. They supplied us with loud whistles to keep on our key chains. Although this isn't a weapon of any sort, it might be loud enough to draw some attention of people in the area to look and see what is going on and may deter someone trying to harm you....or I suppose yelling really loud could do the same thing. Just a thought.
- Chris, manchester
Uh, Jose,
The story said he grabbed one of the girl's arms. That's assault. So, yeah, he broke the law. Either way, grown men should be steering right clear of high school girls unless they are teachers in their classrooms. I don't need to know any more to determine that the guy's a creep.
- Tim K, Jaffrey
Mr. Burns, I don't know what story you read, or what license plates look like in your world, but no one short of a superhero is going to be able to read the license plate of a vehicle behind them in the dark!
The Bedford high school is brand-spankin' new, so I hope they have surveillance cameras installed all around the building - is there any chance the suspect's vehicle was caught on camera? I’m sure the police have already gone down this route.
Folks should note that although the ‘suspect’ in this case did something very creepy and his behavior should cause some concern, as far as I can tell no laws were broken in this incident. I do realize that this may be the same suspect from the Memorial incident in which a crime was allegedly committed, so finding this creep is important until the Memorial suspect is caught.
- Jose H., Manchester, NH
Can't any of those being followed read a license plate?
- Jack Burns, Concord
Composite of suspect doesn't look like a man in his mid 50's with a beard.
What should I really be on the look out for?
People have to be on the look out always. Day & night. What an awful society we live in now.
- Doris Pond, Manchester
It'll be interesting to see when they finally catch this guy, and they will. My bet is he is some repeat sex offender that has been supposedly cured and released back into the public. I just hope when they catch him, it's before he hurts anyone.
- John, Manchester
The police really need to come to the high school and give a little class on how to be a good witness. This article has me looking for Willie G from ZZ Top.
- Jonathan, Bedford
If this happened Tuesday night how come the public is just finding out today?
- Mike, Bedford
NOTE: If you have visited this page before, newer comments may be hidden. Press F5, or hold down the Ctrl key while reloading or refreshing the page. (Another option for Firefox users is the Clear Cache add-on.)