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Robert Buckley, age 43, of Plymouth, was ordered held on a $2,000 bail during his arraignment Wednesday afternoon, where he was charged with assault and battery on a person over 60 causing serious bodily injury, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said.
Buckley, who was later identified as a Boston firefighter, was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation, MassLive reports.
"Boston firefighters are held to a high standard and are expected to be examples of public service for our communities," Fire Commissioner Paul F. Burke said in a statement, the outlet said.
Investigators said the 68-year-old was celebrating with his family outside J.J. Donovan’s Tavern early Sunday morning when a man walked up, attacked him, and threw him to the ground.
Paramedics rushed him to Massachusetts General Hospital to treat a severe neck injury and a large gash to his forehead that will require plastic surgery, authorities said.
Witnesses told police the attacker was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans with red underwear sticking out from the waistband and ran off with another man toward Congress Street following the assault.
Officers spotted Buckley a few blocks away at Atlantic Avenue and High Street soon after wearing clothes that matched the description.
One of the victim's family members identified Buckley as the attacker and said he was "100 percent" behind the assault, the prosecutor noted. The man who was with Buckley was not involved and was not charged.
“It’s tragic that this innocent man is out celebrating with his family and suddenly ends up on the ground with injuries that could impact the rest of his life, and tragic that it all happened in front of his family," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a news release. "Our victim witness advocates are in contact with the victim and his family and will stay by their side throughout the course of the prosecution."
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