Three high school students from Quincy are facing charges in connection with an attack earlier this month on a group of teens from Duxbury at Boston's Kenmore Square MBTA station that left several of the victims with facial injuries.
Duxbury High School student Phoenix Soares is recovering after he and his friends were attacked. He needed multiple stitches to his mouth and he had a concussion.
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He and his friends had just left a Red Sox game when they were confronted by another group of teens at the MBTA stop.
"All pushing me to the ground," said Soares. "Different people punching me, kicks to the head, kicks to the body."
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Transit police say they reviewed surveillance video of the incident and it confirms the four Duxbury High School students were punched, beaten and thrown to the cement floor.
It was apparently unprovoked.
"We were like, 'I have no clue who you guys are,'" said Soares. "Never said anything to you in my life, never seen any of you."
Aidan McGuinness, 18, was arraigned Friday on unarmed robbery and assault and battery causing serious bodily injury charges. Bail was set at $1,500 and he was ordered to stay away from the victims. He is scheduled to return to court on June 24.
Two 17-year-olds were arraigned Thursday in connection with the assault. One was charged with two counts of assault by means of a dangerous weapon (knife), one count of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, one count of unarmed robbery and one count of assault and battery. The other was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (cement floor), assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and unarmed robbery. Bail was set at $200 and they were ordered to stay away from the victims. They are scheduled to return to court on June 24.
The district attorney's office said the charges stemmed from an incident on May 10 at 10:14 p.m., when MBTA Transit Police were called to Kenmore Station in Boston for a reported assault. They spoke with four victims who said they had been attacked by a group of people who were unknown to them. Three of the victims were bleeding from their mouths and the fourth had blood on his clothing and his knuckles.
The victims told police that one of the attackers lifted his sweatshirt and displayed a knife in his waistband. They said they were punched and thrown to the cement floor. One of the victims said his jacket and sneakers were stolen.
MBTA police recovered the jacket nearby, but it had been destroyed.
Police reviewed Kenmore Station surveillance video and cell phone video showing the victims being attacked by McGuinness, the two juveniles and two other people who have yet to be identified, the district attorney's office said. Investigators said the video corroborated the victims' account of the attack.
McGuinness could be seen on video pushing one of the victims as they were struck by another attacker. McGuinness and others were seen striking the victim multiple times while the victim was on the ground, and McGuinness was also seen taking the victim's jacket.
Police were assisted in their identification of the suspects by a person who saw a Snapchat video of the attack that was sent to about 60 people, the district attorney's office said. The viewer recognized McGuinness and other attackers as high school students form Quincy. Police followed up on the video evidence and with the help of Quincy school officials were able to identify McGuinness and the two juvenile suspects.
18-year-old Aidan McGuiness is charged with several crimes, along with two 17-year-olds whose names are not being released because they’re juveniles.
A snapchat video sent to about 60 people helped identify them.
All are from Quincy.
"It's horrific to watch," Joseph Soares, Phoenix's father, said of the surveillance video. "They're pulling, punching, kicking."
Because Phoenix took the brunt of the attack, and his friends are white, his father believes the teen may have been targeted because of his skin color.
"Do I deem it as a racial issue?" said Joseph. "I sure do."
Investigators say the incident appears to have been a random attack. They are still looking to identify two more suspects who were also involved in the crime.
“These individuals may have thought they could launch a brutal and unprovoked attack on a group of young people and get away clean, but the tenacity of transit police combined with help from the victims, the public, and video and social media evidence proved them wrong," Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. "These victims endured a terrifying experience and suffered serious injuries while doing nothing more than enjoying an evening in Boston. Their attackers will answer for their actions."