Boston police are investigating three overnight Brighton home invasions during which at least one victim was ‘tickled’ by a masked intruder.

The break-ins all reportedly occurred within the span of an hour-and-a-half and within a quarter of a mile from each other. One Foster street resident, Boston College student David Master, told WBZ that his roommate woke up to the suspect “tickling’’ him.

“He felt tickling on his foot that he thought was the cat, woke up and there was a man crouched right beside his bed,’’ Master said.

Boston police spokeswoman Neva Coakley told The Boston Globe that residents of all three homes described the man as wearing light colored clothing and a black face mask. Coakley also said the man ran away when residents approached him.


Nothing was reported stolen in any of the home invasions although the doors of the homes were left unlocked.

On May 27 Boston.com reported on the presence of the “tickler’’ in Brighton. At the time the story was published, Boston Police stated they had only identified one incident in the last two years where a foot was touched, and that they knew of no police reports that referred to any actions that could be described as “tickling.’’

Boston police are now “investigating the incident,’’ according to The Globe.