Slow Week on the Cop Beat in Princeton? Shopping Bag Swinger Makes Police Blotter

princeton policeLife in Princeton slows down in July and August. Students at Princeton University are away for the summer and many area families go on vacation. Apparently crime and other police matters slow down as well. The police blotter for this week, provided by the Princeton Police Department yesterday, lists more than half a dozen warrant arrests for drivers who have overdue fines  in other towns. The blotter also contained this little item in the “harassment” category:

At 6:51 p.m. on July 9, an unknown black male was carrying a white shopping bag at the corner of Nassau Street and Witherspoon Street. The man allegedly approached a woman after she exited a NJ Transit bus, and he began swinging his shopping bag at her. Onlookers intervened and the male then walked away, heading north on Witherspoon Street. Police searched the area but were unable to find the suspect.

The shopping bag assailant is described as a black male, late 40s, 5′ 4″, with facial hair. He was wearing a gray T-shirt, gray shorts, and a baseball hat.

If you have any information about the shopping bag swinger, please call the Princeton Police Department at (609) 921-2100.

Editor’s Note: In no way does Planet Princeton trying to mock the woman or say the police department should not have responded to the call, as one reader has claimed. The shopping bag incident was a top police blotter item and our story was meant to be about that fact.