BOSTON — A hardworking pizza shop owner in the crime-ridden Mass & Cass area of Boston is recovering with a head injury after a violent afternoon attack.
It happened outside New Market Pizza around 1:20 p.m. on Wednesday.
The executive director of the Newmarket Business Association told Boston 25 News that the incident started when a man got belligerent with staff.
She said the man was told to leave the business and then began throwing things at the windows from outside.
“The owner of New Market Pizza came out to confront him,” said Sue Sullivan, with the Newmarket Business Association. “The owner ended up getting hit with some sort of object in the head.”
According to initial reports, the husband who owns New Market Pizza was hit with an object – possibly a steel pipe.
He was released from Boston Medical Center later in the evening with stitches across a portion of his head.
His wife, who was not in the business during the incident, has been sharing safety concerns with Boston 25 News for years.
“For years, this has been one of my worst fears,” explained Sullivan. “I think we were very lucky today. The altercation could have been much worse. Someone could have died.”
A Boston Police spokesperson said no charges have been filed in connection with the case as of Wednesday night.
The incident occurred one day after a regularly scheduled Mass & Cass community meeting, which addressed on-going safety concerns.
“For my employees you, want to have a good environment for them, and it’s not safe,” said Gerry DiPierro, owner of DiPierro Construction. “They’re aggressive, and there’s a lot of them.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Boston Police announced that arrests in the area have increased by 84 percent compared to this time last year.
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