21 Injured When Car Rams Into Boston Crowd

A couple trying to drive away from a New Year’s fireworks display rammed their car into a crowd, injuring 21 spectators, police said. Two people were seriously injured.

The woman, who is 6-1/2 months pregnant, said she and her boyfriend were attacked by the mob as they tried to leave the crowded waterfront in their car. She said they hit the pedestrians only because they were trying to flee.

Anthony Brooks, 26, of Malden, faces multiple charges of assault with intent to murder, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, police Sgt. John Greland said.

Brooks, who was held for arraignment Tuesday, was not drunk, but did not have a license to drive, Greland said.

“He made statements to the fact he was going to drive over these people and that’s exactly what he did,” Greland said. “He drove right into the crowd and he floored it.”

Police said 21 people were injured by the car. Three people were in fair condition at Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday evening, one with a crushed pelvis, one with a broken leg and another with burns.

Brooks’ girlfriend, Antoinette Labord, was taken to the maternity ward at New England Medical Center with contractions and a bloody nose. She said she planned to complain to the NAACP about the way the police handled the case.

“I felt fists hitting me in face, hitting me in the stomach - I’m 6-1/2 months pregnant,” she said Monday evening from the hospital. “He tried to cover me with his body, he tried to cover me up with his leather jacket, yelling, ‘Stop, my lady is pregnant. Stop!’

Police said Brooks put the car into reverse and ran over a person, pinning him under a wheel. Brooks then put the car into drive and ran into the other people, police said.

When police got there, they found enraged bystanders trying to tear Brooks out of his car. The 1995 Chevy Cavalier was damaged, its windows smashed.