Ah, Massachusetts... [UPDATED]

State Senator J. James Marzilli Jr., arraigned yesterday on charges that he tried to grope a woman and harass another on busy streets in downtown Lowell, faces further investigation as more women came forward with accusations of inappropriate sexual contact.

On Tuesday afternoon, the veteran lawmaker fled police who tried to question him, causing cars to swerve out of his way and pedestrians to scramble as he darted through city streets. Marzilli was arrested in a parking garage, where he was cut off by police cruisers chasing him. After officers threatened him with pepper spray to make him submit to handcuffs, according to a police report, he broke into tears and cried that his "life was over."

Marzilli's most recent troubles started at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, when, according to a Lowell police report, he approached a woman on a downtown street in Lowell and said: "Oh, baby, you're so beautiful. Your body is so perfect."

The report said that the woman turned around and saw a man, whom she later identified as Marzilli, and said, "What is your deal?"

The woman said she walked away, but Marzilli followed her and repeated similar comments, according to the police report. She became angry, and told Marzilli, "take $20 out of your pocket and go to Merrimack Street after 5 p.m. and get yourself a hooker."

As the woman walked toward a parking garage, she saw two police officers on detail and told Marzilli that she would tell the police if he continued to follow and threaten her, the report said. The woman said that Marzilli then put his hands in his pockets and left her alone.

The report said that about four hours later, Marzilli approached another woman on a park bench about a block away.

That woman told police she had seen Marzilli in the area last week "wearing dirty clothes" and looking "unkempt and possibly homeless," according to the report.

But on Tuesday, he was dressed in business attire, with slacks, a shirt, and a tie, the report said. Marzilli asked her if she remembered him, to which she replied yes. He then told her that he thought she was beautiful. The woman told police that Marzilli then reached toward her with his hands and attempted to grab her crotch, but she grabbed his hand to stop him and told him, "Don't you dare."

Marzilli then made a lewd remark, the report said. The woman went to a nearby apartment complex and reported the crime to staff at the front desk. Two maintenance workers flagged down police, who caught up with Marzilli. Police said the senator told them that he was flirting with the woman and that his name was Martin Walsh of Medford.

Martin Walsh is also the name of a state representative from Dorchester.