South Boston

2 Teens Charged in ‘Unprovoked' Attack on Woman at South Boston MBTA Station

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office says 18-year-old Saul Diaz and a 16-year-old girl have been charged in an unprovoked attack in which a woman was pelted with her own groceries at the Broadway MBTA stop in South Boston

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An 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl have been charged in an attack on a woman last week at an MBTA station in South Boston.

The 21-year-old victim was taken to Tufts Medical Center to be treated after the incident Thursday afternoon at the Broadway stop, authorities said. A group of teens dumped her groceries and threw them at her face.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Monday that 18-year-old Saul Diaz was arrested Friday in the unprovoked attack. At an arraignment Monday, he was released on personal recognizance and ordered to conditional home confinement. He is charged with unarmed robbery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

The 16-year-old girl, whose name was not released, was also arrested Friday, Hayden said. She was arraigned Monday in Boston Juvenile Court on the same charges as Diaz, then released on personal recognizance to her parents.

According to prosecutors, MBTA Transit Police found the victim sitting on a bench and crying shortly after 3:30 p.m. on the day of the attack.

She told officers she was on a Red Line train when she saw a group of teens arguing with someone. She said a juvenile female turned to her and said, "What the [expletive] are you looking at?"

The girl and a male attacker authorities later identified as Diaz pulled her grocery bag from her, dumped it on the platform, and threw the groceries at her, Hayden's office said.

She said she was hit in the nose with a pear. Her nose was bleeding when police arrived, authorities said.

"This is inexcusable conduct that can undermine the public's confidence in its ability to use public transportation safely and efficiently," Hayden said in a statement Monday. "Public transportation is crucial to the economic viability of our region, and when something like this happens — a passenger being set upon, unprovoked, and wounded in the process — it's an assault not just on them, but on the entire system."

Diaz must remain on home confinement unconditionally on weekends, and between 4 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays so he can attend school. He was ordered not to loiter at the Broadway stop, prosecutors said. The girl was ordered to have no contact with Diaz or the victim, and she is not permitted to use the MBTA except to go to and from school.

Diaz is due back in in Boston Municipal Court in South Boston on June 21 for a probable cause hearing.

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