At Washington and Morse streets, transit police investigate the stabbing of two young women on a bus yesterday. A fellow passenger was arrested after the incident.
(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
Two young women stabbed on bus
Suspect exposed self before attack
At Washington and Morse streets, transit police investigate the stabbing of two young women on a bus yesterday. A fellow passenger was arrested after the incident.
(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
By
John M. Guilfoil, Globe Correspondent and Andrew Ryan
Globe Staff
/
October 21, 2008
- |
Two cousins riding a bus on Washington Street in Dorchester were stabbed yesterday afternoon by a man who moments before had exposed himself on the sidewalk, police said.
The women, ages 18 and 19, were taken to Boston Medical Center with what transit police described as injuries that were not life-threatening, said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo.
Transit police arrested Steven Phillips, 32, of Dorchester, and charged him with the stabbing on the Route 23 bus, which occurred about 2 p.m. Phillips was previously arrested in 2002 for allegedly stabbing a man on a Route 16 bus, police said.
The stabbing is the latest in a history of violence aboard the Route 23 bus, which runs from Ruggles to Ashmont Station in Dorchester.
In 2007, 18-year-old Dwayne Graham was shot and killed on the bus. In 2006, seven serious crimes were reported on the route, including a rape. The route is a primary method of commute for many local high school students. In March, the Globe reported on the efforts of 10 teens to call attention to violence on the bus. In response, T officials said they have increased police presence on the route.
Police said Phillips approached and exposed himself to the women and a group of their friends, all students at a nearby high school, who were waiting for the bus at Codman Square. The students yelled at Phillips and he ran. He then boarded the bus at a different stop. When the two women boarded the bus at Codman Square, Phillips accosted them and started swearing at them, said transit police Lieutenant Mark F. Gillespie.
Phillips was arrested by a nearby Boston Police gang unit, which saw the struggle, Gillespie said. He was taken to transit police headquarters and will be arraigned tomorrow in Dorchester District Court.
John Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
