Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Skateboarder Arrested for Groping Women Near Columbia, Police Say

By DNAinfo Staff on July 22, 2011 7:36pm

Thomas McDonnell, 22, was arrested on West 112th Street and Broadway, police said.
Thomas McDonnell, 22, was arrested on West 112th Street and Broadway, police said.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

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.