BOSTON — A man who attacked a woman and tried to run her over with his car after she failed to respond to his “good morning” greeting was sentenced to two years in prison, Suffolk County prosecutors announced.
The July 13 incident occurred outside the victim’s home on Balsam Street in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. The woman, who was watering her plants in her yard around 9 a.m., told police that the man, later identified as Atkinson, became enraged when she did not reply to him. He reportedly yelled, “When people say good morning to you, you should say hi, you crazy b—-,” before getting into a black Mercedes.
The woman began recording him on her cellphone, prompting Atkinson to exit the vehicle and assault her, prosecutors said. He punched her repeatedly in the face, threw her against a fence, and only stopped when she bit him in an effort to defend herself. Atkinson then returned to his car and drove toward the victim, narrowly missing her, before fleeing the scene.
When police arrived, the victim was bleeding from a broken nose and had visible bruises on her head and face. Detectives used video footage and a GPS monitor that Atkinson was wearing from a prior arrest to identify and locate him. He was arrested several days later.
“For this victim, a pleasant summer morning descended into a violent and cruel ordeal for the most inexplicable of reasons,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. He praised the victim’s bravery, noting her quick thinking to record the assault provided key evidence in the case.
