An 18-year-old from Ayer is facing multiple felony charges after police say he attacked three strangers, including an 11-year-old boy, with a metal license plate near Boston's Long Wharf, then became combative with the officers who arrested him. Joshua Carroll was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on charges that include two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, and two counts of trespassing.
According to NBC Boston, police were called to the area of Long Wharf after receiving a report of a person with a gun, per prosecutors. When officers arrived, they say Carroll had hit a 59-year-old man with a metal license plate after following him to the docking area of a marina. Carroll is also accused of hitting a 64-year-old man in the upper back with the same object and following an 11-year-old boy on a dock before striking him in the back of the neck with it.
Prosecutors said Carroll tried to push two people into the water, according to witnesses cited in the case, and that bystanders restrained him until officers arrived. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the incident involved numerous victims in the marina area, though he noted the victims and responding officers did not suffer serious injuries. Police spoke with three victims as part of the investigation, per prosecutors.
Teen Allegedly Turned on Officers and a Police Cruiser
Once police took Carroll into custody, the confrontation reportedly did not end. NBC Boston reports that Carroll became combative with officers, reportedly called them racial slurs, and refused to walk. He also allegedly kicked the door of a police cruiser and continued to kick the window and interior of the vehicle, according to the outlet's report. Carroll is accused of threatening a witness as well.
Boston Police District A-1 holds primary jurisdiction over downtown Boston, including the North End, Waterfront, and Long Wharf, according to the Boston Police Department. Long Wharf itself serves as a passenger ferry pier and commercial maritime hub, per Mass.gov. An unprovoked, multi-victim disturbance in that commercial dock area is the kind of incident that tends to rattle a heavily trafficked waterfront corridor. According to Mass.gov, Long Wharf was the longest wharf in North America when it was built in 1711. Mass.gov describes the Long Wharf and Central Wharf sub-district as the most active portion of the planning area, with visitors attracted to the Aquarium and the water.
Weapon Choice and Victim's Age Drive Felony Exposure
The charges Carroll faces carry significant weight under state law. Assault and battery with a dangerous weapon is a felony under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 265, Section 15A, punishable by up to 10 years in state prison or up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, along with fines up to $5,000, according to the Boston Criminal Lawyer. Under state law, an everyday object used in a dangerous manner, such as a metal license plate, can satisfy the legal definition of a dangerous weapon.
The same statute provides for an offense involving a victim who is 60 or older, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in state prison — a provision directly relevant to the count involving the 64-year-old man. Separately, the report describes Carroll kicking the police cruiser.
Bail Set at $750 With Stay-Away Conditions
The court set Carroll's bail at $750 and ordered him to stay away from the marina, the victims, and witnesses in the case. The bail order included stay-away conditions. Carroll is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on October 22.
Carroll lives in Ayer, a Middlesex County town roughly 35 miles northwest of Boston that connects to the city via the MBTA Fitchburg Commuter Rail line, according to North American Van Lines. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, led by Hayden, has more than 160 attorneys and prosecutes more than 20,000 cases annually.
The Long Wharf attacks come about two months after Boston Police District A-1 detectives opened a burglary investigation tied to a vessel break-in at 63 Long Wharf, a case Hoodline covered in its report on the boat break-in. Boston Police have also increased their downtown presence and coordinated security operations.
