The kids are at it again.
“It should be noted that there has been a dramatic increase in violent crime, assaults on police officers and disturbances in the area of District Ave/South Bay Mall by juvenile groups,” the latest police report in the string states ahead of its narrative.
In this one, four 13-year-old kids were arrested on assault and battery charges Wednesday night in a series of concurrent incidents at the South Bay mall in Dorchester that reads in the police report like a violent slapstick comedy.
Patrolling officers were first approached by a male at around 8:25 p.m. His sweatshirt was all ripped up, his cheek was swollen and his eyes were watering, as noted in the incident report.
The victim said he was waiting for the bus when a group of teens were trying to provoke him to fight. He said they shouted out come-ons to him like he was “smoking on somebody” before they descended on him with blows that knocked him to the ground and then kicked him in the face.
But the juveniles allegedly responsible for the beating had something to say about his story, with the incident report quoting them as shouting “You’re a rat! You’re snitching!” as the victim spoke with police and the group walked away in the middle of the street before allegedly attacking someone else.
This time the target was a teen girl in front of TJ Maxx, who the mob allegedly surrounded and cursed at and threatened as they held up traffic. Then the victim’s mom showed up and argued with the kids, visibly upset, since “her son was just jumped.” Police got the victim and the mother into their car, but then the teens surrounded the car and the police officers on the scene.
After some minor trouble, police were able to arrest two of the teens, according to the report, but then “another disturbance began to take place.”
In all, they arrested four 13-year-olds. They each face similar though not identical charges which include delinquency charges of affray, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, interference with a police officer and assault and battery with a deadly weapon — shod foot.
That was at least the tenth such major juvenile incident in the same area so far this year. Here are some highlights from police reports:
Jan. 7: Two incidents in the area, first on District Avenue where a group of roughly 15 to 20 teens were “yelling and fighting in the parking garage.” Officers came back to the area, this time to Target for the same group “causing a disturbance” with “their tumultuous behavior and their disrupting of patrons attempting to stop.”
These youths were “immediately confrontational” toward the officers, and one allegedly threw a freshly opened Pepsi bottle at a patrol wagon. The cops placed him under arrest, which apparently put the rest of the group into a tizzy, with one of them allegedly yelling that the officers needed to “get their (expletive) hands off” him and another — or perhaps the same person — “pushing and grabbing at officers.”
Both teens were arrested, both for disorderly person and resisting arrest charges, with one getting four additional charges of assault and battery on a police officer and the other a charge of wanton destruction of property.
June 23: A group of perhaps 10 teens beating up a 13-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl in the Target. Apparently the same group had jumped the girl’s sister the night before and had sent her a video gloating over it and asking her if she wanted to fight. She didn’t want to, but apparently they did.
July 25: Five juveniles of undisclosed ages, a couple of whom were wearing white face masks, were arrested and charged with armed robbery and some with more charges, like assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — one a knife, the other a shod foot — after harassing a man in the area of target, attacking him and stealing his electric scooter. Mall security guards were able to retrieve the scooter.
July 26: Same shopping plaza, with “50 to 60 kids fighting, running and yelling … obscenities and threats at officers as they smoked weed and refused to leave the area.” Police note that there were multiple calls of the teens attacking people there.
A smaller subset of the group also allegedly assaulted “three victims that appeared to be scared crying” as the assailants yelled “beat these (expletive) up!” Then the teens ran into Target, with one allegedly taunting police by saying, “I’m going into the store, your fat (expletive) can’t catch me.”
July 31: A large group of teens fighting in the parking garage area were the focus of many calls to police. Police say they saw area shoppers “be forced to cross the street while carrying young children or try to sneak by the group while they pushed, punched and jumped at one another with complete disregard for others walking by.
It escalated from there, with one boy allegedly slapping an officer, another headbutting a different officer, another kicking a police radio across the street, and the group throwing “river rocks” at the patrol wagon, shattering a window. In all, six teens were arrested on various charges.
Aug. 13: A teen was arrested for allegedly pointing and shooting a BB gun that looked like a Glock at random cars in the shopping plaza lot, which is apparently nothing new as police note “several calls in the last couple weeks involving replica firearms being pointed and shot” in the area.
