‘Horrendous assault’: Revere teen charged in brutal Silver Line bus attack on woman, DA says
A 16-year-old girl from Revere was arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on charges in connection with a brutal attack on a woman riding a Silver Line bus toward Nubian Square on July 2, District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.
The juvenile was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, shod foot, and unarmed robbery. Judge Peter Coyne on Tuesday revoked the girl’s bail for 60 days on a pending assault case and set $300 bail on the new case, along with orders to stay away from the victim and to stay away from all MBTA property, Hayden said.
The girl was one of eight apparent juveniles who participated in the attack, said Hayden, who added that investigators are confident they will identify additional perpetrators in connection with the assault.
At about 11:13 p.m. on July 2 the victim, a 35-year-old woman, was seen on video entering a Nubian Square-bound Silver Line car and standing near the back door, Hayden said. Minutes later, a juvenile male was seen walking toward the victim and throwing what appeared to be potato chips at her head. The victim was seen turning around to see who threw the chips, and then turned back in an apparent attempt to ignore the juveniles.
Another juvenile was then seen squeezing a bottle of lotion onto the victim’s hair, face and body. The victim moved toward the juvenile in an apparent attempt to stop him from squirting more lotion. At that point, another juvenile pushed the victim down to the floor, and the other juveniles, girls and boys, joined the attack, punching and kicking the victim as she lay in a self-protective position on the floor.
The Revere juvenile, who was not identified because she is a juvenile, was caught on video striking the victim in the head with a closed fist about seven times, Hayden said. She was also seen kicking the victim in the head and face about three times.
During the attack, some of the juveniles were seen opening and rummaging through the victim’s handbag. One of the juveniles took the victim’s phone and placed it in his pocket.
All of the juveniles exited the bus after it arrived at Nubian Station. The victim sustained a bloody nose and other facial bruising but did not require hospitalization.
MBTA police identified the Revere teenager through video surveillance footage and are attempting to identify the other juveniles involved in the attack. Surveillance shows that the group was at the AMC South Bay Center cinema complex before boarding the Silver Line car. Theater personnel that evening had reported a large group of juveniles causing several disturbances.
“This was a shocking, brutal attack on a female MBTA passenger—utterly unprovoked—and an intolerable assault on the security and safety of our transit system itself,” Hayden said in a statement on Sunday. “While our goal is to provide options and services to young offenders so their early mistakes don’t short circuit their future lives, our overlying responsibility is to protect the public and to secure justice for victims. I’m grateful for the work by transit police to identify this defendant and I’m confident they will make further identifications of those who participated in this horrendous assault.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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