An Attempted Carjacking Outside a South Boston Grocery Store
The day after Christmas, a driver at Foodies Market on West Broadway faced an attempted carjacking and assault around 6:30 p.m., police said.
Scene imagery is illustrative — not the actual locationOn the evening of December 26, 2022, around 6:30 p.m., a driver outside Foodies Market on West Broadway in South Boston was the target of an attempted carjacking, according to Boston police. The suspect also assaulted the victim during the attempt, police said.
The carjacking failed, and the man left the scene. About two weeks later, Boston police released images of the suspect and asked the public for help identifying him, directing tips to District C-6 detectives or the anonymous CrimeStoppers line.
It happened at a neighborhood grocery store on one of South Boston's busiest streets, at dinner time, during the holiday week. No injuries were reported in the police account, and the driver kept the car.
Seconds versus minutes.
Nobody moves toward danger faster than police. The clock is still the clock.
Until they arrive, you are the plan: distance, locked doors, a phone in hand, training. A Massachusetts license takes months — start before you need it.
Sources: NENA 911 call-processing standard (STA-020.1-2020) · FBI, Active Shooter Incidents 2000–2013 · City of Boston, Boston About Results — BPD Performance Report. Boston's figure is its last published Priority 1 median, call receipt to arrival. Incident timing is from the FBI's study of timed violent incidents. Respect for the officers who answer these calls, always — this is arithmetic, not blame.
This could have been any of us.
Everyone makes that run: grab a few things at the market, toss the bags in the back seat, head home. The minute or two between the store door and your driver's seat is exactly when you're loaded down, distracted, and looking at anything but your surroundings. This wasn't a dark alley at 3 a.m. It was a grocery store on West Broadway at 6:30 in the evening.
The reality most of us never see coming.
Sources: Council on Criminal Justice, Trends in Carjacking · Council on Criminal Justice, Trends in Carjacking · Mass.gov / EOPSS crime data release
What we tell our students.
When our students in Everett talk through moments like this one, we always start in the same place: awareness comes first. Head up between the store and the car, keys ready, doors locked the moment you're inside. Most bad encounters are avoided, not won — and avoidance costs you nothing.
The other thing we tell people: the time to think about your personal-safety plan is before anything happens, not after. Massachusetts's License to Carry process routinely takes months from first class to license in hand. Our course satisfies the state's training requirement so you can apply — and whether or not you ever carry, the training itself changes how you move through a parking lot.
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