Sigh of Relief:Brutal Lynn Street Attack Story was Only a Hoax

After putting the entire City on alert – and drawing considerable media attention from Boston – the alleged brutal random armed attack on a woman, purportedly by three young males with a Central American accent, turned out to be a false report.

Denissa Perez, 25, of Chelsea, will be charged with misleading a police officer in a criminal investigation.

Police put the public on notice Sunday morning after Chelsea Police took a report on Sunday, January 17, just after midnight, from a female victim in her 20s at the Whidden Hospital in Everett. She reported that while walking home from work at approximately 9:30 p.m. she had been physically attacked by three male suspects who had allegedly beaten her with their fists, repeatedly kicked her and slashed her with a knife in the area of Lynn Street Extension between Central Avenue and Maverick Street.

In response to the victim’s account of the attack and out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of the residents of the city of Chelsea the Police Department alerted the community early the next morning via a widely disseminated press release that three young male attackers may be living or staying in the area. Police Chief Brian Kyes said his department felt compelled and obligated to warn the residents of Chelsea to take general safety measures, to remain vigilant and keep themselves safe and secure in their travels in and around the city.

However, as part of any serious criminal investigation it is always the duty and responsibility of any police department to fully and completely corroborate any victim and/or witness account of what they allege had transpired in a given situation. As Detectives began the process of conducting a comprehensive follow up investigation of the victim’s version of the incident in question, police uncovered several inconsistencies in terms of the physical and digital evidence that they had available.

This trend continued throughout the investigation Sunday and all day on Monday.

As a result police were able to learn Monday night that, in fact, no attack took place involving this victim at Lynn Street Extension.

Rather, Detectives have since learned and confirmed that a fight occurred inside of an undisclosed address between several male parties. The alleged victim was present with this group and had intervened in an attempt to break up the fight and in doing so received a laceration to her hand from a broken bottle requiring several stitches and some additional bruises and scrapes about her person.

As a result of providing the police with this fabricated report of a crime mentioned above, misleading the police throughout the entire investigation, spreading significant fear throughout the city as well as expending considerable resources by the police in an attempt to find those responsible for what was believed to be a serious act of violence, the victim was charged with a crime.

Perez will appear in Chelsea District Court later this month to be arraigned on this and perhaps additional charges stemming from this investigation.

Chief Kyes said he wanted to especially single out the efforts of Det. Sgt. Will Brizuela, Det. Scott Conley and Officer Paul McCarthy for being diligent in their investigation.

“Allegations like this that are left unchecked can bring a neighborhood and even an entire city to its knees instilling considerable fear and paralyzing residents from venturing outdoors,” he said. “Their initiative and perseverance to find the truth in this alarming incident has allowed the entire community to breath a collective sign of relief.”

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