BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston man is charged with violently beating his elderly neighbor after a confrontation over a wrongly delivered package, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden.
Khalil Muhammad, 29, was charged with assault and battery on a person over 60 and unarmed robbery Tuesday.
On December 22, officers responded to an assault in progress at 730 Cummins Highway in Boston. A witness reported that a man had assaulted her elderly neighbor and stole his phone.
Officers spoke to Muhammad, who said the victim, a 77-year-old man, had come to his apartment accusing him of stealing a package. Officers said they found the man badly beaten with his eyes swollen shut, a bleeding cut under one eye, and unable to answer questions. He was taken to the hospital.
In a statement Hayden wrote, “The victim eventually told officers that his Amazon package was mistakenly delivered to Muhammad’s apartment, and when he went to retrieve it, Muhammad punched him in the face and tore his $700 Motorola phone from his hand. The victim fled up the stairs to his apartment, but Muhammad followed him and continued to beat him as he ascended.”
Witnesses said the attack was shocking to see.
“I asked him what happened and he said ‘he beat me up and took my phone,'” said Rhonda McElroy, a neighbor who called 911. “It was bad. His whole face was swollen, his eyes were, like, shut basically.”
Hayden said Muhammad has a criminal history of violent offenses in Massachusetts and New York dating back to 2015, including an open case of of East Boston, where he is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and class B possession of narcotics. He is also on probation for two cases out of Dorchester.
During his arraignment last week, a judge revoked bail in the East Boston case and ordered Muhammad held on a detention detainer for both probation violations. He is due back in court on January 22 for a pre-trial hearing.
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