‘He described it as a nightmare’: Family of man attacked by swarm of dirt bike, ATV riders speaks out
Authorities are also concerned that another attack could happen.
The family of the 82-year-old man beaten repeatedly by dozens of people on dirt bikes and ATVs last Thursday is speaking out.
The Brookline man is “lucky he’s alive,” his daughter, who asked to remain anonymous, told NBC10 Boston.
“He described it as a nightmare,” she said, according to the news station. “He said it was something you would see out of a movie, there was someone smashing his windows and beating him at the same time.”
The incident happened while the man was driving his 1996 Buick Century from Park Drive to Boylston Street, headed toward the Bowker Overpass, state police said.
Roughly 30 to 40 dirt bikes and ATVs headed toward him and began smashing the windows of his car. Eventually, one punched the man through the open window of his car while he was trying to ask another motorist to call 911.
The man was able to get away and was rushed to the hospital. He is expected to survive, but suffered serious injuries.
“He’s still beat up and swollen, he’s still in a lot of pain, but he’s getting stronger and getting better every day,” his daughter said, according to the news station. “That’s the hardest thing for us to wrap our heads around that there’s people out there that are violent, angry, careless.”
In a separate interview with WCVB, the man’s daughter said he was going to pick up a turkey.
“That’s all he was doing,” she said.
As the man recovers, authorities are concerned it could happen again.
State Rep. Russell E. Holmes, who represents Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan, told The Boston Globe the issue has been ongoing in Roxbury, Franklin Park, Mattapan, and in North Dorchester. He said the issue of illegal and hostile ATVs and dirt bikes has been a priority.
”It has died down substantially because we’ve been very busy and very insistent, diligent about … trying to stop it,” Holmes said, the newspaper reported. “I’ve seen it primarily in the heart of the Black community and up and down Blue Hill Avenue, that’s what [is] bothering me the most.”
He called it “one of the highest priorities,” according to the Globe.
“They essentially take over the streets, are very aggressive, and essentially dare you to do something about their aggressiveness,” Holmes told the newspaper.