BOSTON (WHDH) - A husband and wife from East Boston are facing several civil rights violations and assault charges after they threatened to kill, hurled racial slurs, and sprayed water at a group dining at a restaurant next to the couple’s home, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
Arielle Raso, 37, is charged with seven counts of assault and battery, seven counts of civil rights violation, seven counts of threatening to commit a crime, and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child under 14.
Gregory Raso, 39, is charged with seven counts of assault and battery, seven counts of civil rights violation, and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
Police said they responded to Tertulia’s Cafe on Porter Street in East Boston at approximately 6:45 p.m. Monday for a noise complaint issued by Arielle and Gregory Raso, who live next door. Officers told the couple to contact them again if the noise continued past 11 p.m.
Officers returned to the restaurant at approximately 8:30 p.m. for a report of an assault in progress. They said they spoke with a victim, who told them that she and several others were at the restaurant when a verbal altercation began between the Raso’s and the party. The victim told police that the couple complained about the noise and told the victims, who are Hispanic, to “get out of this country.” The victim reported the Raso’s also used racial slurs and threatened to kill the victims.
“She said that she hates me because I am Hispanic, that she don’t [sic] like us, yeah, many times,” said Jilgardo Preciado, the Owner of Tertulia’s Cafe. “The neighbors just started showing up and saying bad words, saying that they have to leave, saying that they were doing a lot of noise.”
Hayden said the Raso’s then broke off a piece of the fence between the property and threw it at the group, hitting a child. The couple is also accused of spraying the victims with a hose. Cell phone video captured a steady stream of water being sprayed over the fence onto the cafe’s back patio area.
While interviewing victims, police said they heard Arielle Raso admit she sprayed the group with a hose and heard her say, “I will kill you, I don’t give a [expletive],” followed by, “I’m [expletive] done with all those [multiple racial expletives].”
“I’ve been almost 12 years in this place, and we always have the same problem with the neighbors. They don’t like us,” Preciado said. “We got to do something about it because we can’t continue like this. This is a small place, a very quiet place.”
The father of one of the suspects told 7NEWS they would never use derogatory racial language.
Both Arielle and Gregory were ordered to stay away from Tertulia’s Cafe and have no contact with the victims or any restaurant patrons. They are due back in court on July 28 for a pretrial hearing.
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