A suspect known as "The Tickler" has been breaking into the homes of Boston College students, tickling their feet while they sleep and then scooting away as soon as the unwitting victim wakes up, Opposing Views reported.
At least ten victims have come forward to report that a man broke into their dorms and apartments while they slept. Three incidents have allegedly been on the night of April 7, the Boston Globe reported.
"This is no myth," community service officer Sgt. Michael O'Hara told the Boston Globe. "It's happening."
The last two years has seen an upsurge in sightings of the serial tickler.
Described as a 5-foot-8-inch tall black man, he has been witnessed to be dressed in black clothes and a hoodie. Some victims claim that they saw the man watching them through their windows as he "committed a sex act," the Boston Globe reported.
BC junior Teddy Raddell awoke to the sound of someone fleeing from his home early on a Sunday morning in October.
"I thought my roommate had fallen down the steps," said Raddell, who shares a house with several other students, "but then he started yelling. I got up and he said that he had woken up to someone touching his feet."
"The guy didn't take anything and there were laptops and wallets out in the main room."
Several other students have reported similar occurrences.
"Someone was standing at the end of the bed, and by the time I realized there was someone really there, he was booking it right out my door," said junior Jake Barrows. "When I was finally out of bed and following, he was out the back door."
While the neighborhood is considered a low-crime area, students need to make a habit of locking their doors, Sergeant O'Hara said.
"Absolutely students should be concerned," he said. "You don't know what this guy is going to do or if he has a weapon. You need to lock your doors. It's not as safe as you think."
Despite all of the sightings, no photos or video of the alleged Tickler exist, UPI reported.
"If we had something to go on," O'Hara said, "we would."
