Two teens were arraigned today on charges related to a melee last week that started on a 23 bus and ended with a brawl outside Dorchester District Court.
A 16-year-old teen from Roxbury, not named because of her age, was ordered held in lieu of $2,500 bail on three counts of three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
Investigators viewed surveillance footage from the bus, which showed the female assailant raise a steak knife and then open a Pepsi bottle containing a clear liquid as she exited the bus, according to prosecutors.
Also charged, with a single count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, was Jamahl Galloway, 19, of Dorchester, whose bail was set at $500. According to the DA's office:
The footage also depicts a physical altercation between Galloway and one victim outside the bus in which Galloway was knocked to the ground. The younger teen attempted to hand Galloway the soda bottle containing bleach, but he instead grabbed the knife from her and used it to stab the victim in the head
Washington Street in Codman Square was shut as police tried to break up the fighting, which began aboard a 23 bus around 4 p.m.
The bus operator told police that he heard an unknown person on the bus shout, “There’s a knife, there’s a knife,” prompting him to stop the bus and open the front and rear doors to allow passengers to exit. The driver witnessed passengers fighting as they exited the bus.
During the altercation outside the bus, one victim was stabbed in the head and suffered a 1-inch laceration. That victim, a second victim, and Galloway were all splashed with bleach that the female assailant allegedly threw from a soda bottle, prosecutors said. Galloway was treated by Boston EMS before fleeing the scene. The two victims were transported to area hospitals.
Police recovered the knife, bleach stained clothing, and a Pepsi bottle containing bleach residue from the scene.
The DA's office adds Facebook helped police ID the younger teen:
Images posted to the teen’s Facebook page earlier on the day the attack show her wearing the same pants, boots, and ring that she is seen wearing in surveillance video taken from the bus. Photos posted to the site over the summer depict the teen wearing a GPS ankle bracelet, allowing investigators to confirm through records that the defendant was assigned to wear such a device during that time period, prosecutors said. Moreover, in a Facebook post written after the assault, the teen allegedly acknowledged that the incident had occurred.
Innocent, etc.