Hey, there! Log in / Register

Police: Man punches cop in the head after he and his brass-knuckled pal beat up a restaurant worker downtown

Smith under arrest

Smith under arrest. Photo by Live Boston.

Boston Police report arresting a man and a woman they say both beat up a restaurant employee getting off work early Tuesday, after which the man sucker-punched a cop.

Police say that shortly after midnight, the two attacked the restaurant worker at School and Province streets.

The victim stated that he was leaving work at a local restaurant and was making his way to a nearby MBTA Train Station when he was approached by a male and a female who asked him for a cigarette. When the victim told the two parties that he did not have any, they struck him several times with clenched fists as well as an unknown metal object before taking his phone and smashing it on the ground. As Boston EMS arrived on scene to treat the victim, officers located a female matching the given suspect description, later identified as Latia Smith, 41, of Boston. At the time of the stop, the suspect was wearing a pair of ‘brass knuckles’ on her left hand. The suspect was placed in custody without incident.

Around 12:40, as officers were waiting with the woman to see if the victim could identify her, police say:

A male later identified as Pablo Castro-Larios, 24, of Malden, suddenly snuck up on one of the officers, striking him in the head with a clenched fist before fleeing on foot. The officer gave chase and soon had the suspect in custody following a brief but violent struggle. At that time, the officer observed that this suspect matched the given description of the male party involved in the initial incident.

Smith was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon and destruction of persona property, police say. Castro-Lairos was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, interference with a police officers, resisting arrest, unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon and disturbing the peace, police say.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

People are simply getting less and less civilized. It's undeniable. It's almost like Devo's old concept of "de-evolution". What on Earth is causing this? And no, I don't want to hear the twin knee jerk reactions of "Covid" and "Trump". Too easy. That simply isn't it, although I'm sure it didn't help.

up
Voting closed 1

Apes in the plan? We're all here to prove it.

up
Voting closed 0

The only person who would assault a cop is someone who has been brainwashed.

The police have been demonized for years and the media, schools, and government are contributing to the rise in these attacks by continually telling young people that the police are the bad guys and enemy number one.

https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/violence-against-police-rising-nati...

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/01/13/us/police-officers-line-of-duty-death...

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/students-activists-help-divert-mil...

There is a bill being pushed in California that would allow schools to keep crimes hidden from the police. We’ve seen schools attempt this in Boston and it has been proven to make students less safe and protect abusers and not victims.

https://witnessla.com/schools-would-have-more-discretion-no-longer-be-re...

People that don’t face consequences will repeat their actions and escalate their criminal behavior.

up
Voting closed 0

I'm sorry that both the restaurant worker and the police officer were assaulted, I hope they are able to recover.

In general in the US police have been hemorrhaging support from the electorate and for good reason, it's a violent culture with insufficient accountability - Americans suffer as a result.

up
Voting closed 0

People that don’t face consequences will repeat their actions and escalate their criminal behavior.

THREAD: Cops committing sex crimes involving children is common.

THREAD: Cops lying is common.

THREAD: Cops committing property crimes is common.

THREAD: Cops brutalizing people for sport is common

THREAD: Cops planting evidence is common.

Police brutality megathread.

Cops that don’t face consequences will repeat their actions and escalate their criminal behavior.

up
Voting closed 0

Ultimately, the problem is too many people asking what their country -- or their state, city, or town -- can do for them, rather than the other way around. It is something I call "social entropy", and it infects all human institutions. The first generation, the founders of an institution, dedicate their lives to building it, tweaking it, and making it better. The second generation are in awe of their predecessors and strive to uphold the traditions they've inherited. But as generation follows generation, people come along who see the institution primarily as a career opportunity, even if they go through the motions of professing loyalty to the traditions of the founders... and eventually they all see the institution as something to be milked for their own benefit.

Finally, the people for whose benefit the institution was created realize that it no longer works for them; they abolish it, and new institutions are built in its stead.

up
Voting closed 0

I’m having trouble squaring your treatise on institutions with some vintage American institutions — slavery, Jim Crow, the police, our criminal justice system. Feel free to explain.

up
Voting closed 0

The police should be held accountable for any and all wrongdoing, including the things on your list. There are around 700,000 cops in the country. A group that large will always have anecdotes of the crimes you linked to in those Twitter threads. It’s a high stress job performed by a fraternity with a penchant for protecting themselves first when things go awry. Reforms and proper training are certainly needed, but that doesn’t mean you just get rid of the police.

You can find bad people in any group that large. Here is an example:

https://floridaactioncommittee.org/likely-sexually-abuse-child-sex-offen...

Does this mean all teachers are bad people? It certainly does not.

up
Voting closed 0

It’s endemic and systemic. The above links show thousands of examples and it is far from exhaustive.

up
Voting closed 0

yet* and they have no power to enforce laws.

up
Voting closed 0

they work for us, not the other way around. further, the fetishization of police and first responders is a relatively new feature of our increasingly authoritarian society. you think police academy would fly today?

up
Voting closed 0

I would like to know how the comments on an article involving a policeman getting assaulted immediately gets turned around to how police are so bad…. Disrespect in this country is unbelievable. This man puts his life on the line everyday, to make the streets and the city of Boston a safer place for all, so that our families can feel and be safer. He is not guaranteed to go home to his family on any given day. This man responded to the scene to help people, not to be dehumanized. SMH WTF.

up
Voting closed 0

Incorrect. I've worked in schools for a while. There is 0% we've ever taught anyone to go punch a cop in the head.

up
Voting closed 0

Appears to be missing …

up
Voting closed 0

I was thinking the same thing, but I came to the simpler conclusion that they were on drugs, rather than that they were brainwashed Trumpies who hate the Police.

up
Voting closed 0

But you hit a cop, yah going in.

Jimmy Flynn, who plays the judge in that scene, probably has the best Boston accent in that picture, since he is from Somerville, a Teamster and also a reputed member of the Winter Hill Gang. This is maybe second only to current City Councilor and former Mayor of Cambridge Marc McGovern playing a non-speaking part in the bar scene. (Also, in the background of that scene is a happy hour menu which is not legal in Massachusetts, and wasn't in the mid-90s either.)

up
Voting closed 0

Good Boston accents all around in that scene @Ari O

up
Voting closed 0

How do you sneak up and punch a cop? That’s crazy.

up
Voting closed 0