Three people have been charged and a fourth identified as a suspect in an attack on an MBTA Red Line rider near South Station last week.
Ny-Jaya Monae Sampson, 19, of Boston, Seth Burns, 20, of Manchester, NH, and Sidney Amaral, 23, of Cambridge, Mass. were each arraigned Monday in Central Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery and assault to rob.
The charges are in connection with an attack on Jan. 25. A fourth suspect, Bryan Fitzpatrick, 19, of Boston, will be arraigned at a later date.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, police were called to South Station that evening where a man told them a group of men and women had approached him on a train between Broadway and South Station and tried to steal his bag. When he resisted, the group punched and kicked him and attacked him with a knife and taser. The victim's nose was broken during the attack.
Prosecutors say investigators used surveillance footage to identify the suspects.
Fitzpatrick is also accused in a separate set of MBTA attacks and robberies on Jan. 12. In that case, he and three others are charged with attacking and robbing Green Line riders. The charges include assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and armed robbery. He was held for 90 days on a dangerousness finding and is set to return to court on Feb. 10 for a probable cause hearing.
“These two incidents are deplorable violations of public rights and public trusts. Thousands of people depend on public transportation for work and recreation every day of the year. They have the expectation, as well they should, to ride trains and buses without fear of being victimized or brutalized,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a media statement.
Sampson was held on a $1,000 bail and ordered to stay away from the MBTA and the other suspects. Burns was held on $2,000 with the same conditions. Amaral, who prosecutors said had other open cases, had bail in those cases revoked and was held on a $2,000, with similar conditions. All three are due in court on March 1 for probable cause hearings.
