Youths sought in beating of homeless man
Police have launched a search for a group of youths who, they say, beat and seriously injured a homeless man early Friday in South Boston.
The attack, which has further alarmed a homeless community upset by recent attacks, was so brutal that advocates for the city's homeless are urging men, women, and children who live on the streets to be vigilant.
''We don't know who did this," said Lyndia Downie, executive director of the Pine Street Inn, the shelter in the South End.
''But until these people are found, we want people to be especially careful," Downie said.
Over the weekend, the inn's van, which transports people to the shelter, spent more time on the streets. Its crew has been working longer hours to get more of the homeless inside the shelter.
The injured man, whom police would not identify because he was a victim of a violent crime, was taken to Boston Medical Center early Friday with life-threatening injuries. As of yesterday, he was upgraded to serious condition, said Officer Michael McCarthy of the Boston Police Department.
No arrests had been made as of last night in the assault, which took place on F Street, but police say they have suspects. Yesterday afternoon, outside the Pine Street Inn, Jose Lopez said the victim, whom he called Mario, was collecting cans and bottles when he was attacked by a group of teenagers. Police said they received a call about a man lying in the street at 12:51 a.m., and found the man, who had been severely beaten.
Word of the assault spread quickly among the homeless, who have been on alert after several recent beating deaths in the community.
Yesterday, a 32-year-old homeless man who was outside the Pine Street Inn said violence is a fact of life among the homeless, who suffer much-higher-than-average rates of mental illness, alcoholism, and drug addiction.
Downie agreed. ''It's a violent life on the streets," she said.
As police searched for the attackers, officers said that one of the city's most violent homeless men, Dennis Connolly, was probably not involved.
Connolly is known as ''The Stomper" by police and the homeless because of his alcohol-fueled assaults. ''There's no connection," McCarthy said.
In fact, Connolly spent the weekend in police custody. He was arrested Friday evening outside a Store 24 on West Broadway in South Boston, after he was seen sharing a bottle of vodka with another homeless man.
Connolly is expected to be arraigned in South Boston District Court this morning on charges of drinking in public.
David Procopio, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office, said prosecutors probably would urge the judge to have Connolly evaluated for alcoholism.
''We believe that we have established evidence that he has alcohol problems and has behaved violently because of those alcohol problems," Procopio said.
Connolly has spent most of the past year behind bars. He went to jail in October after Kenny Kane, 48 and homeless, was savagely beaten in a public alley between Newbury Street and Commonwealth Avenue. Kane died from his injuries, but police were able to gather only enough evidence to charge Connolly with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, his foot.
Connolly was jailed until late July, when he pleaded guilty to that charge in Boston Municipal Court. Prosecutors requested a 2 1/2-year sentence, but the judge sentenced Connolly to nine months, the time he had spent in jail waiting for his trial. He was set free.
A few weeks later, on Aug. 13, Steven Neiber, another homeless man, was found dead outside St. Anthony's Shrine in downtown Boston. Neiber had been named as a witness to the beating that resulted in Kane's death.
McCarthy said police have not established any link between Neiber's death and Connolly, but they are still investigating.
On Aug. 21, Connolly was arrested on public drinking charges outside Fenway Park about 2 p.m. Procopio said a judge the next day denied a request to send Connolly away for a 20-day evaluation.
Christine McConville can be
reached at [email protected].
