ROXBURY, Mass. — A Boston man was arrested after allegedly attempting to place a chemical-laced handkerchief over the mouth of a 14-year-old boy last week, authorities said.
The 14-year-old was waiting at the corner of Dudley and Washington streets in Roxbury just after noon on July 28 when an older man wearing a Hawaiian shirt approached him and poured liquid into a red handkerchief before attempting to place it over the boy’s mouth, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Monday.
The boy ran away to the Nubian Square bus station and called the police.
A short time after police responded, officers located a man matching the suspect’s description, carrying a red handkerchief and walking along Dudley Street.
The man, later identified as Willie Cowart, 69, of the city’s Dorchester section, was sweating profusely but denied knowing the victim or having an interaction with him, the DA’s office said.
The victim later positively identified Cowart. Officers also searched the man’s vehicle and found several chemical cleaning agents inside the car.
Reached by phone Monday, Cowart denied any wrongdoing.
“The Boston Police came and arrested me for an assault that I didn’t know anything about,” Cowart told Boston 25 News. “I’m dumbfounded.”
Cowart said he carries a handkerchief on hot days to wipe his sweat. He denied knowing what cleaning materials the police were referring to.
Cowart was charged in Roxbury BMC last Wednesday with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon (chemical handkerchief).
The victim was uninjured.
“This is a strange, and extremely disturbing, set of facts. It doesn’t take much imagination to appreciate how frightening it was for this young man to be standing on a street corner and suddenly be accosted in such a bizarre manner. I’m grateful that he suffered no apparent injuries,” Hayden said.
An investigation remains ongoing.
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