A Quincy, Massachusetts, couple is due in court Monday in relation to two unarmed robberies that incited fear throughout the city's Asian-American community last month.
Two people of Asian descent were robbed — one suffered serious injuries — near the North Quincy train station on Feb. 18. After about a month of investigation, authorities arrested Brian Kenney, 34, and his wife Angelina Kenney, 38, at their home on Friday.
Both are due in Quincy District Court on Monday for charges of unarmed robbery on a person over 65 and unarmed robbery.
Authorities interviewed witnesses, examined surveillance footage from local businesses and residences and found evidence when executing a search warrant at the couple's house at 100 West Squantum St.
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According to police, the first robbery took place Thursday around 4:45 a.m. in the area of 95 West Squantum St. The victim, a 69-year-old man, was walking toward the station when the he was attacked and his lunch bag was stolen, police said.
The victim suffered serious injuries in the attack and has been hospitalized since the incident.
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Then, at 9:55 p.m. the same day, a 55-year-old woman was stripped of her shoulder bag while walking home from the station, police said. The woman was not injured.
Asian-American community leaders raised concerns about the violence and Quincy police said they have "heard and seen many comments that this was a hate crime."
Despite those concerns, police said "there is no indication that these incidents were motivated by hate. Rather, they were crimes of opportunity and theft was the motivating factor." They cited a "thorough investigation" by detectives in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, as well as a review by the Quincy Police Civil Rights Officer.
Massachusetts criminal law defines a hate crime as “any criminal act coupled with overt actions motivated at least in part by racial, religious, ethnic, handicap, gender or sexual orientation or sexual orientation prejudice, or bias.”
