Man Accused of Lewd Act on Red Line in Davis Square Station

A man ejaculated on a 21-year-old Cambridge woman riding the Red Line into Davis Square, according to a report from MBTA Transit Police.

According to the report, the woman got on the Red Line train at Alewife Station at about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday and began to read the Boston Metro newspaper.

As the train pulled into Davis Square Station, "the victim noticed what she described as a disgusting smell and something wet on her jacket, and [she] also noticed a male party next to her with his hands down his pants," the report says.

The woman initially accused the man of urinating on her, and he said, "no no" while zipping his pants up, the report says.

At this point, "the victim reached down to her left side and felt a wet substance on her jacket. She looked at her hand and described the substance as something that looked like [semen]," according to the report.

She wiped her hand with the newspaper as the train pulled into Davis Square and the doors opened and the man got off the train, the report says. The woman tried to follow, but the doors closed.

According to the report, the woman rode the train to Porter Square, where she exited and contacted Transit Police.

Transit Police pulled up surveillance video, and the victim made a positive identification of the man, the report says. Detectives recognized the suspect as 26-year-old Eric Howes, who was a suspect in an earlier lewd and lascivious crime committed on MBTA property, the report says.

Detectives knew Howes often spent time at a homeless shelter in Boston, and they eventually found him at the Woods Mullen Shelter, near Boston Medical Center in Boston.

Howes voluntarily provided a DNA sample to detectives and admitted to the crime, according to the report.

He was arrested and charged with indecent assault and battery.