'One of the most horrific events': Quincy police talk safety after Wollaston kidnapping, rape

QUINCY − Hundreds of concerned residents discussed safety with city officials, police officers and community leaders after the "horrific" kidnapping and rape of a 64-year-old woman who was walking alone near the Wollaston T stop several weeks ago.

Quincy Councilor-at-large Nina Liang called the meeting to hear concerns and discuss how Quincy can "move forward safely" after a 26-year-old Quincy man allegedly abducted the woman early on a Saturday morning, raped her for hours and abandoned her in a parking lot in Brockton. The meeting was well attended by Quincy's Asian community, particularly older women. The victim is Asian.

Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan spoke and fielded questions for the majority of the meeting. He called the assault "one of the most horrific events" he's witnessed in almost 40 years of police work. He noted that the suspect, Christian Lynch, was seen on video trying to abduct another woman earlier that morning. That woman did not call the police.

"I want to make this crystal clear: We need you to call," Keenan said, noting that the police department has interpreters who speak dialects of Chinese, Vietnamese and other languages. "We don't care at all about your immigration status or language difficulties."

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One attendee, noting that both victims are Asian women, asked Keenan if he considered the assaults to be hate crimes. Keenan replied that no evidence has come to light that would indicate the assailant was motivated by race, but that the investigation is ongoing and that determination has yet to be made.

"The crimes (Lynch is) charged with are very serious and carry a very long prison term," Keenan said.

Keenan said that although crimes specifically targeting Asians have risen nationally in recent years, the Quincy Police Department has not registered a similar trend locally. There have been crimes against members of the Asian community, but "not necessarily because they're Asian," he said.

Mayor Tom Koch lamented the "horrific event," but said Quincy remains a safe city. He emphasized his commitment to public safety, noting that the police force has grown from 145 to 185 patrol officers during his tenure.

"We take the issue of your security very seriously," Koch said.

Keenan said that, even before the assault, Quincy police had increased the presence of uniformed and plainclothes officers around Wollaston based on a statistical uptick of incidents in the area. Also, the city will be organizing free self-defense courses for the community, including for senior citizens.

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While the audience expressed a general appreciation of the Quincy Police Department, some people complained about the lack of MBTA police officers at Wollaston Station.

One woman said she visited the station several times over the past few days to gauge the police presence. She said she saw one MBTA transit officer in his vehicle Saturday afternoon, but saw no officers patrolling the station.

"There wasn't one person in uniform," she said. "Where are they?"

Though representatives for MBTA Transit Police weren't at the meeting, Keenan said Transit Police Chief Kenneth Green addressed that criticism at an earlier meeting Monday morning. He said Wollaston is statistically among the safest MBTA stations, and Keenan said the MBTA police force "is down over 70 officers from where they're supposed to be."

"They don't have the bodies," Keenan said.

Keenan said the Quincy Police Department has joint jurisdiction over the Quincy stations, and the increased police presence in the Wollaston neighborhood will continue.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Quincy police talk safety after kidnapping, rape near Wollaston T stop