Man put 'chemical-laced handkerchief' over boy's mouth as he waited for ride, police say

Inset: Willie Cowart (BPD). Background: The area in Boston where Cowart allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old boy (WBZ).

A 69-year-old man in Massachusetts is accused of placing a “chemical-laced handkerchief” over the nose and mouth of a 13-year-old boy who was standing on the street waiting to be picked up.

Willie Cowart was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, authorities announced.

According to a news release from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, officers with the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police at about 12:21 p.m. on July 28 responded to a report of an assault and battery that took place at the corner of Dudley and Washington Streets in Roxbury.

First responders said that upon arriving at the scene, they made contact with the victim, who told them he had been “waiting for his brother to pick him up when an older man wearing a Hawaiian shirt approached, poured an unknown liquid on a red handkerchief, and tried to put the handkerchief over his mouth.”

The victim said he fled from the man — later identified as Cowart — and ran to the nearby Nubian Square bus station where he was able to contact police.

Police arrived at Dudley and Washington a short while later, where they spotted Cowart, who they said was still wearing the same Hawaiian shirt and holding a red handkerchief.

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“Cowart, who was sweating profusely, denied knowing the victim or having any interaction with him,” the release states.

However, when officers conducted a search of his vehicle, they said they recovered “several chemical cleaning agents from inside the car.”

The victim, who was treated on the scene by Boston Emergency Medical Services, positively identified Cowart as the alleged assailant and he was arrested without incident.

The victim spoke with local CBS affiliate WBZ and provided additional details about what allegedly happened.

“It’s basically like facing your biggest fear, like the way the guy was looking, too,” the boy, who did not want to appear on camera, told the station. “So yeah, my heart was beating fast and stuff. Yeah, I was really scared.”

He continued, saying, “I was kind of scared because it was like my first time this ever happened to me, and I’ve been seeing this on like the TV so many times about people getting kidnapped and stuff, so yeah, I was kind of scared.”

According to the victim, the incident terrified his parents, who no longer want him on the street alone.

“I can’t go outside, my mom told me, until I’m 20,” he said. “[I can’t] go outside by myself when school is finished, I can’t stay after school.”

Cowart was processed and released on personal recognizance. A judge reportedly ordered him to stay away from the victim and the area where the alleged assault took place. He is due to appear in court again on Oct. 29.

“This is a strange, and extremely disturbing, set of facts,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “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.”

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