By Leslie Albrecht and Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Staff
MANHATTAN — A 22-year-old skateboarder from upstate New York was busted for allegedly groping several women near Columbia University.
Thomas McDonnell, of Kingston, is accused of grabbing the victims' private areas, including their breasts, buttocks and crotches, while skateboarding in the area Thursday afternoon.
Four women complained to police that they had been groped between 1:30 p.m. and 2:10 p.m., when McDonnell was arrested on Broadway near 112th Street, police said.
He is charged with forcible touching, sexual abuse and resisting arrest, according to an NYPD spokesman.
Witnesses told the Columbia Spectator that they saw officers sting McDonnell - who was shirtless and wearing a straw fedora - with a taser while attempting to restrain him on the corner of West 111th Street and Broadway.
The police spokesman said he could not confirm that a taser was used. McDonnell was not a student or employee at the university, according to the Spectator.
