Man accused of groping woman in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD – A Canadian man in town for the Halifax to Marblehead Ocean Race is in jail after he was accused of grabbing a woman’s buttocks Thursday night.Peter Woodford, 50, of 2281 Quinn St., Halifax, Nova Scotia, was arrested and charged with indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 on Thursday at 10:11 p.m.Lynn District Court Judge Stephen Abany ordered Woodford held on $350 bail at his arraignment on Friday.According to police records, a woman flagged down a police officer on mountain bike patrol in the Crosby’s Market parking lot and pointed to two men saying, “Officer, that man just grabbed me. The man in the striped shirt.”In his report, Marblehead Police officer Eric Osattin said he spoke to the man, later identified as Woodford.”I noticed he had a Canadian accent and asked if he was in town for the Halifax Race,” Osattin wrote in his report. “He confirmed he was in town for the race. The more I talked to him the more I noticed his intoxication. He slurred his speech, his eyes were glassy and he swayed as he stood.”The report states the woman told police she was standing by a friend’s car by Maddie’s Sail Loft when the two men walked by and the man in the striped shirt grabbed her with both hands.”She stated that he grabbed ‘both cheeks and that his intent was clear,'” said the report. “She stated she yelled at the man that it was unacceptable and that she is a married woman. She stated that the man in the striped shirt was apologetic, but that the two kept walking.”The report states the suspect’s friend told police they had been drinking beer and had three rum and Cokes each at Maddie’s. He told police he didn’t see his friend grab the girl, but he just heard her yell at him that “he grabbed her (expletive).”Woodford was sent to Essex County Jail and is due back in court on Aug. 21.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].