Warrant Issues for
Man Who Allegedly Spat on Bus Driver;
Driver Charged
with Beating Him
BOSTON, March
12, 2015—A Roxbury man who allegedly spat on an MBTA bus driver defaulted at
his arraignment today, while the driver was arraigned for allegedly beating him
in the head with a wooden block in retaliation, Suffolk County District
Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
TERRI FELIX, 40,
of Brockton was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court this morning on a charge of
assault and battery with a dangerous weapon – a chock block, a wooden block
with a looped handle used as a tire stop. She was released on her own
recognizance.
HOMER HENDERSON,
Jr., 52, of Roxbury was expected to be arraigned in the same court on a charge
of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for spitting on Felix during the
same Dec. 20 incident in which Felix is charged with beating him. Henderson
failed to appear in court and a warrant issued for his arrest.
Assistant
District Attorney Eric Anderson told the court that Henderson was a passenger
on a Route 1 bus driven by Felix on the date of the incident.
Surveillance images on the bus show Henderson apparently fall asleep on board
the bus and later wake. He can be seen walking to the front of the bus
and engaging Felix in conversation. The conversation soon escalated to an
argument, which was captured on cell phone camera by another passenger.
After the bus
stopped in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Washington Street, Henderson
allegedly spat on Felix before exiting. Prosecutors said Felix retrieved
a wooden chock block from a storage compartment and followed Henderson,
continuing to argue with him outside the bus. Footage from a passenger’s
cell phone camera allegedly shows her following Henderson down Washington
Street and striking him in the head with the block, knocking him to the ground,
before returning to the bus and calling MBTA Transit Police.
Henderson was
treated at Boston Medical Center for injuries sustained in the assault. In an
interview with Transit Police, he stated that he’d sustained a laceration to
his mouth, a broken bone in his cheek, and other injuries.
Felix told the
court that she will retain her own attorney. She will return to court May 21.
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All defendants
are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
