Boston police said that a report filed by a woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted while trying to hail a taxi near the Cambridge border is not valid.
The attack claim, which followed a similar assault just weeks earlier, caused fear and prompted police, universities and industry professionals to warn women to avoid rides from unlicensed cabs when trying to make their way home at night.
The woman reported being attacked at about 2 a.m. on Aug. 18 when she tried to hail a cab near Linden and Pratt streets in the Allston-Brighton area. She told officers that a man driving a sedan stopped and offered her a ride to Cambridge. However, he instead took her to an area near Harvard’s campus on the Boston and Cambridge border where he sexually assaulted her, she said.
Police said Wednesday that the woman’s claims were not valid and that the investigation was closed.
“After a thorough investigation the Boston Police has determined that theAugust 18, 2013 report of an alleged sexual assaultin the area of the Allston /Brighton line was erroneous.Evidence, witness interviews and statements, led detectives to believe the facts of the case did not support the allegation as reported,” police said in a statement.
That claimed attack followed another reported attack that occurred Aug. 6. In that incident, a woman trying to hail a cab along Northern Avenue in the Seaport District at about 1:30 a.m. The womanwas picked up by a black Lincoln livery sedan and taken to a secluded area in Newton where she was raped. Authorities released a sketch of that suspect.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
