Thursday, August 24, 2000 Older Editions

Pomps Pond closes early

By Judy Wakefield

Worried about the safety of young lifeguards at Pomps Pond, Andover closed the pond Tuesday night, five days ahead of schedule.

Kim Stamas, recreation director for the town's Department of Community Services, said recent beach-area attacks on females in both Andover and other communities have caused her to make this decision.

At Pomps recently, an Andover mother who returned to the pond shortly after it closed to retrieve a towel left by her 8-year-old son, was surprised to find a group of 20-something males on the beach. Stamas said the four men approached the woman and one of the males "dropped his pants."

The frightened woman ran back to her vehicle, which was parked at the top of the hill, near the parking-lot gate, says Stamas. When she got to the vehicle, the four men were surrounding it.

Evidently, they ran through the nearby woods and got to the woman's vehicle before she did, Stamas said.

When a busload of basketball players approached the area on their way to the lighted courts at nearby Recreation Park, the four men ran away.

The incident happened on Saturday, Aug. 5, just after the pond closed at 8 p.m.

Patrolman Patrick Keefe said the woman reported the incident to the Andover police department two days after it actually occurred. She could not provide police with a description of the subjects, other than that they were four Hispanic males.

Keefe later spoke with the lifeguards at Pomps, and there has been no report of the group returning since, he said.

Nevertheless, when Stamas was faced with almost exclusively using teenage girls as lifeguards for the final five days of the pond season, she closed the pond. The older males on her lifeguard staff are college-bound and unavailable after Tuesday, Aug. 22.

"I couldn't let these 16-year-old girls be down here by themselves. I was worried about their safety. And, as a parent, I would not want my daughter in that situation," Stamas said.

In addition, the ongoing search for Molly Bish, a teen lifeguard from Warren, weighed heavily in Stamas' decision, she said.

"This is just like that scene," Stamas said, staring out at Pomp's Pond from the parking lot, late Tuesday afternoon. "Her mother dropped her off in an area just like this. I can't take any chances."

Molly Bish has not been seen since June 27 when her mother dropped her off at a local pond for her lifeguarding job.

Andover police did not advise DCS to close the pond, however.

"That's their decision it had nothing to do with us or any safety concerns, on our part," said Police Chief Brian Pattullo. "None of the incidents we've been involved in would cause the closing of the pond. It's their decision. "

"I think it's an overreaction," said Sgt. John Pathiakas. "If it was closing because of not enough lifeguards, I can see that." Despite Pomps' problems with vandalism and underage drinking this summer, no further incidents similar to the Aug. 5 exposure have occurred, he said.

Stamas says she's been taking safety precautions all summer with her female teen lifeguards because of the Bish disappearance. If female guards arrive early, they wait with their parents at the pond entrance until all of them have arrived. Then, they walk as a group with a male escort and report to work.

"I just won't take any chances," Stamas said repeatedly from the pond, as members of the Andover High football team helped lifeguards take down the docks and pack equipment away Tuesday.

The popular swimming area was supposed to close Sunday, Aug. 27.

There have been other pond problems this summer. Vandals poured gasoline from a motor boat into the pond earlier this month, and the area continues to be a spot for teenage drinking. Lifeguards often find themselves picking up the debris from beach parties.

tire tracks made in the sand.

"It's very easy to get in here when the pond is closed," Stamas said. "We know what's going on."