Brookline Woman Confronts Strange Man On Stairs, Calls Police

BROOKLINE, MA —After a chase that lead through back streets and over multiple fences and right infront of a moving train, Brookline Police arrested a 29-year-old Malden after a Newell Road resident reported it appeared he was casing her home. He's being charged with attempted breaking and entering, as well as trespassing.

The woman was standing in her kitchen about to take her dog out for a walk when she noticed a man walking around the outside of her house in all black and then down a set of stairs that lead to her basement door. Concerned after she saw him coming up from her outside basement stairs, she banged on the window. He didn't stick around to explain or tell her what he was doing.

The woman called police at 5:27 a.m. and officers tracked the man - later identified as Tristen Phillips of Malden - down using the footprints he left in the snow.

"Due to the fresh snowfall, officers were able to determine the path the suspect had made from the reporting party’s residence," said police in a statement.

Police officers followed the foot prints which headed toward Parson’s Field on Kent Street and then one heard noises coming from the bleachers. That officer came around to the front of the bleachers and saw a man dressed in dark clothing running across the field that was not open to the public. The officer told the man to stop, but he didn't listen.

The officers followed the man as he crossed over the MBTA tracks and ran along the Muddy River, where he was eventually caught. The man told police he was on his way to Beth Israel hospital, but police say that is in the opposite direction.

The incident is still under investigation, according to police.

(For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Brookline Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch