A 33-year-old Dorchester man has been charged with attacking a 59-year-old woman after accusing her of not saying “good morning” to him, according to police.
Ian Atkinson allegedly punched the woman at least seven times in the head. Then, he’s accused of getting into his car, putting it in reverse, and swerving in the woman’s direction before driving away.
After the alleged assault, the woman was transported to Carney Hospital with a fractured nose and a subconjunctival hemorrhage to her left eye. The woman told police she managed to bite Atkinson on the shoulder during the alleged attack.
He has been charged with assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (car).
The alleged attack happened at about 9 a.m., on Thursday, July 13. Boston police officers responded to Balsam Street in Dorchester, where the woman said an unknown man to her — later ID’d as Atkinson — walked by her as she watered her lawn.
The man allegedly cursed at her for not saying “good morning” to him, the woman told police. That’s when she started videotaping Atkinson because his aggressive remark scared her. Atkinson — who had gotten into a black Mercedes parked nearby — then left the car, approached her, and began punching her, she told police.
Home security surveillance video shows Atkinson punched the woman at least seven times in the head. The video then shows Atkinson return to the Mercedes, put it in reverse, and swerve in the victim’s direction before driving away.
The woman, who was bleeding profusely from her nose, was able to video the Mercedes’ license plate. She also told police that she noticed Atkinson wearing what appeared to be a GPS tracking device.
Officers ran the plate number, leading them to Atkinson’s Lucerne Street address. There, they found a different Mercedes registered to Atkinson. Officers compared Atkinson’s license photo to the man captured by the victim’s phone video, and determined them to be the same person.
The woman later identified Atkinson as her attacker in a photo array. Police also determined that Atkinson was wearing a GPS tracker under conditions of his existing case. Information from the tracker placed Atkinson directly at the Balsam Street location at the time of the assault. Police issued a warrant on Atkinson, and he was arrested several days later.
“It’s difficult to comprehend the viciousness and randomness of such an attack, in this case on a stranger doing nothing more than watering her lawn,” Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
“All over a perceived — and perhaps nonexistent — slight,” Hayden added. “But it isn’t difficult to admire the bravery and alertness of this victim, and her presence of mind not only to get crucial video of her attacker but also to notice that he was strapped with a GPS device.”
The judge in Dorchester court ordered Atkinson held without bail pending a Tuesday dangerousness hearing.
The judge did not immediately rule on the prosecutor’s request to revoke bail on the existing assault and firearm possession case against Atkinson.