Man gets two years for beating up and trying to run down a woman who wouldn't say 'good morning' to him

A Dorchester man was found guilty and sentenced to two years in state prison today for the way he beat up a woman who refused to return his "good morning" greeting, only to retreat when she bit him, then got in his car and drove right at her on Balsam Street, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Ian Atkinson, 34, decided to have his trial before a Suffolk Superior Court judge rather than a jury. Judge Michael Doolin found him guilty of assault and battery on the victim, 59, and assault with a dangerous weapon today, the DA's office reports.

The DA's office gave this account:

At about 9 a.m. on July 13, 2023, Boston police responded to Balsam Street in Dorchester, where the victim told them she was watering her plants when Atkinson walked by and said, “when people say good morning to you, you should say hi you crazy (expletive).” The victim took out her cellphone and started videotaping Atkinson. Atkinson, who had entered a nearby black Mercedes, left the car and repeatedly punched the victim in the face before throwing her against a fence. Atkinson stopped attacking once the victim bit him.

After the attack Atkinson drove the Mercedes toward the victim, almost striking her.

The victim was bleeding profusely from her nose when police arrived and was transported to a local hospital. She suffered a broken nose, contusions to her head and face, and a subconjunctival hemorrhage of her left eye.

The attack was captured on the victim’s cellphone and surveillance video. Atkinson, who was wearing a GPS monitoring device at the time of the attack, was arrested several days later.