Roxbury man held for stabbing one woman, assaulting another

BOSTON, December 16, 2022 — A Roxbury man was arraigned today on assault charges stemming from an attack on a 68-year-old woman who he offered to help with grocery items in her vehicle and a separate assault on a woman he chased on a street, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

RANLEE FLORES, 34, was charged in Roxbury BMC with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault.  Judge Kenneth Fiandaca revoked Flores’s bail on several earlier cases for 60 days, meaning Flores will be held in jail for that period.  Fiandaca also ordered $30,000 bail on the new charges, plus a stay away order from the areas of the crimes enforced by GPS monitoring.

Flores will return to court January 9 for a probable cause hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Babaian said that on Thursday, December 8 at about 5:30 p.m. police responded to call for a person stabbed on Deckard Stret in Roxbury.  The 68-year-old victim told police she was unloading groceries from her vehicle when a man approached and offered to help. The man then punched her from behind and continued to attack her as she attempted to fight him off.  The victim late discovered a puncture wound to her chest.

Early in the morning on Tuesday, December 13, officers responded to a radio call for a person screaming on Harrishof Street in Roxbury.  The victim, a 42-year-old woman, told police a man had chased her and lunged at her as she walked along Harrishof Street toward Humboldt Street. 

Detectives accessed video surveillance from both incident scenes and determined that the same person was responsible for both attacks.  Further investigation and appeals to the public identified Flores as the attacker.  Police arrested Flores yesterday near Southampton and Atkinson streets.

“These were random, frightening attacks on women who were merely going about their respective normal days.  All of our residents have a right to be safe in their neighborhoods and safe from such terrifying attacks,” Hayden said.

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications