Teenager arrested after vicious attack on 63-year-old woman in Attleboro

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

A 15-year-old boy is facing a slew of charges including attempted murder after a “violent attack” on a neighbor in Attleboro on Wednesday night, police said.

Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, a 63-year-old woman was surprised by the 15-year-old inside her home on Cumberland Avenue, police said. The boy, who police said also lives on Cumberland Avenue and knew the victim, allegedly attacked her and stabbed her multiple times in the neck and torso.

After the initial attack, the boy took the woman against her will to a pond near the Seekonk line, where he dragged her from the car and attempted to drown her, police said. Unsuccessful, the boy then put the woman back in the car and drove her to a third location.

There, the boy “attempted to clog her tailpipe with an article of clothing in an attempt to asphyxiate her,” police said. While the boy was doing this, the woman was able to free herself and get behind the wheel of the car to flee. She drove herself to Sturdy Hospital and contacted police.

The woman was later transported to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, where she is being treated for injuries that are not considered life-threatening, police said. The boy was arrested when he arrived at his home around 3 a.m., police said.

The boy, whose name has not been released due to his age, is charged with attempted murder, home invasion, kidnapping, assault with intent to murder, intimidation of a witness, operating a motor vehicle without a license, and assault and battery upon a person over 60 thereby causing injury, police said. The boy was held at the Attleboro police station until being transported to Taunton Juvenile Court for arraignment.

A spokesman for the Bristol County district attorney’s office was not immediately available to comment.