Five juveniles in Boston, Massachusetts, have been arrested and charged for violently assaulting a 20-year-old woman near the city’s Downtown Crossing Monday afternoon.
The broad daylight beatdown came as authorities continue to report soaring crime in the area, especially among juveniles. In fact, according to WCVB-TV, police were already responding to an assault and battery at a nearby Macy’s when they received calls about a huge street fight involving roughly 20 teenagers.
When police arrived on the scene, they found the mob of teenagers kicking and punching a woman while she was on the ground. The victim, who sustained a head injury and “appeared to be in distress and highly animated,” later told officers that she was attacked because of her hair.
According to a police report seen by Mass Live, the woman told officers that she had been standing at the intersection of Winter Street and Washington Street when a group of girls approached her and demeaned her as a “white bitch with braids.”
She reportedly told the group that she identifies as Hispanic and started to walk away. But moments later, one of the teens chased after her and pulled her down by her hair. Several others then allegedly joined in on the attack.
Part of the assault was caught on cellphone video. It shows at least five individuals surrounding the unidentified woman and kicking her as she tries to defend herself.
New video shows juveniles brutally attacking woman in Boston’s Downtown Crossing www.youtube.com
Witnesses of the attack said it came out of nowhere.
“She came flying in on her bike around here, and just 15 of them chasing her and beating the crap out of the girl. All of them,” Chris Jackson, who works in the area, said in an interview with WCVB. “They took off with her bag, her cellphone, whatever else they had that she had dropped. She got up and had no idea what was going on.”
“It was baffling, honestly. It was incredible to see that because I’ve never seen any type of thing like that in my life, ever,” Julie Mendez, who manages the nearby City Smoke Shop, added. “They were trying to take her bags, so I was trying to grab them so they wouldn’t take her bags. It was just insane.”
Following the attack, the victim was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for further evaluation and is expected to fully recover.
Police reportedly identified and arrested five suspects — four females and one male — using the video. All five of the suspects are under the age of 15, and one is as young as 12, according to police.
The male suspect reportedly spit at police while he was being arrested. Meanwhile, another suspect punched an officer and yet another suspect pulled a female officer’s hair out of her braid and knocked her glasses off during her arrest.
In the police report, officers note that the Downtown Crossing area has been the scene of a “barrage of juvenile incidents” in recent weeks and months. Teenagers have reportedly been fighting on the streets, smashing store windows, and assaulting officers and other members of the public.
Just last month, a group of four teenagers assaulted an 81-year-old man at a McDonald’s on Washington street. Other juveniles reportedly smashed windows along Silvertone Bar and Grill’s storefront.
Ibraham Ibraham, the owner of Black Seed Café & Grill, told WCVB his restaurant was also the scene of a recent fight among juveniles.
“We called the cops and the cops separated them. Then they kept fighting, even when the cop were there,” he said, complaining, “I’m losing business, so I hope they can do something about it.”
* story by The Blaze
