BOSTON (WHDH) - A 24-year-old man is accused of hiding in a stall and assaulting a 15-year-old girl inside a restroom at the Museum of Science Sunday, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
Yandri Hernandez, of Somerville, was charged Wednesday with kidnapping of a child, strangulation or suffocation, and assault and battery in the Charlestown division of Boston Municipal Court, the office said in a statement.
At around 12:41 p.m. Sunday, Massachusetts State Police responded to the museum for a report of a 15-year-old girl assaulted in a restroom, the DA said.
The girl told police that she had gone to use a restroom on the first floor as her friend waited outside. When she left the restroom stall to wash her hands, she felt a man’s hand cover her mouth from behind, according to the office.
The man, later identified as Hernandez, attempted to restrain the teenager, but she was able to scream and run out of the restroom, the girl told police. Hernandez then walked out behind her and fled the scene, the office said.
A witness in the restroom at the time told police she saw sneakers in an adjoining stall that appeared to be “abnormal in size for a female.” She told police she then heard muffled screaming and a “physical altercation,” but that the two involved were both gone when she left the stall.
As seen on security video, the man entered the museum just before 11 a.m. and sat near the restroom for about an hour before going inside, the office said.
Investigators distributed still images to local police departments, and Cambridge police were able to identify the man as Hernandez from a distinct left forearm tattoo. Police arrested Hernandez in Somerville on Tuesday.
The museum released a statement Thursday regarding the incident.
“The Museum of Science takes multiple steps to create a safe environment for our members and guests. We are grateful for the efforts of our own internal public safety team, combined with law enforcement officials, who were able to quickly identify the involved individual,” the statement said.
Hernandez was ordered held without bail Wednesday pending a dangerousness hearing on Friday.
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