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Clifford Jones is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (baseball bat) on a child under 14, malicious destruction of property, possession of a class D substance, selling unstamped cigarettes, and selling cigarettes without a license, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said. He was being held on a $7,500 bond.
Police say Jones backed his car into another vehicle on July 18 in the South End near 150 Camden Street. That sparked an argument between the two drivers when they got out to check the damages.
Jones allegedly grabbed a baseball bat and smashed in the windshield and back window of the car, causing glass to rain down on the 1-year-old in the backseat, police said. The baby had several small cuts from the incident. Responders took the child to Boston Medical Center for treatment.
Jones admitted to police he backed into the car and said the other driver got out and began shouting at him that his baby was in the backseat, the prosecutor said. Jones said he tried to escape because he feared for his life, but the man chased him, according to authorities.
A witness told investigators they saw the cars speeding through the area, running red lights, and driving the wrong way on one-way streets, authorities said.
Police found an aluminum bat near where the alleged attack happened. They also found hundreds of packs of cigarettes with New Hampshire tax stamps, various nicotine and THC oil cartridges, and packages of marijuana inside Jones' car, the prosecutor said.
Jones has an "extensive" criminal record dating back to 1975, the Suffolk DA's Office said.
“This was a terrifying sequence of events for the victim and for the victim’s child," DA Kevin Hayden said. "It’s tragic that such a young child witnessed this and sustained injuries severe enough to be hospitalized. Minor motor vehicle accidents happen all the time. But to react with such violence, and with no hesitation in placing a child in danger, is intolerable."
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