Sex offender arrested at Northeastern University after allegedly hiding in women's bathroom, attacking police

A sex offender was arrested at Northeastern University after he allegedly hid in a women's bathroom and attacked police officers. 

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said that around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a man was seen leaving the Steson East Resident Hall onto Huntington Avenue via an emergency exit, which triggered an alarm. 

Cafeteria staff told Northeastern Police that a man had been lingering in the women's restaurant for over an hour and had craned "his neck under the stall divider to view into [a staff member's] stall" while she was using it. 

"It isn't difficult to imagine the shock and fear this employee must have experienced through this man's actions, particularly in a setting where privacy is expected and deserved," Hayden said in a statement. 

Police were able to find the man using surveillance footage outside the building, according to Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul.

Once found outside the building, the man ran directly into the police who took him to the ground, according to Hayden. He then "thrashed his legs and attempted to bite officers, eventually placing his mouth on one of their holstered firearms."

Hayden identified the man as 29-year-old Brandon Awogboro from Boston, a level two sex offender who has a history of trespassing on Northeastern's campus. 

Awogboro has been charged with trespassing, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. He was held on $500 bail and ordered to stay away from the Northeastern Campus and the victim. He is scheduled to return to court on May 26.

Awogoboro is on probation for a 2024 breaking and entering assault and battery case. He had served 18 months for the crime and was wearing a GPS bracelet on his ankle at the time of the Northeastern incident. He's on the sex offender registry for an incident of indecent assault and battery on a person under 14 back in 2021.

Former students near campus said they felt uncomfortable about the news.

"It makes me feel uncomfortable, like what if I was there," Northeastern alum Liam Rougebec said.   

"'I would definitely not feel safe, I'm happy I don't live in that dorm, but being a freshman in that dorm, you're not really sure what's going on, that's definitely pretty scary," graduate Molly Naughton said. 

They said that it's just one in a string of many concerning incidents happening near the school recently. In April, a man wielding a sword stabbed a police officer, causing officers to shoot and kill him just days after another stabbing had happened nearby. 

"'There was definitely a set of 8 days where multiple things were happening over and over again," said Naughton. 

Current students have asked for better communication from the school about incidents that occur near or on campus.