Police: Pair attacked man for not giving them cigarette, then one of them punched a cop who responded

Police arrested a Malden man and a Boston woman following a reported assault on a restaurant worker in downtown Boston early Tuesday morning.

Shortly after midnight, a man was walking in the area of School and Province Streets following a shift at a local restaurant when the two suspects approached him and asked for a cigarette, according to Boston police.

When the victim told the pair that he didn’t have any, they “struck him several times with clenched fists as well as an unknown metal object before taking his phone and smashing it on the ground,” police said.

While Boston EMS treated the victim, officers found and arrested Latia Smith, 41, of Boston, who matched the description of the female suspect. She was wearing a pair of brass knuckles on her left hand, according to police.

Around 12:40 a.m., police were standing with Smith when the male suspect, Pablo Castro-Larios, 24, of Malden, allegedly snuck up on one of the officers and punched him in the head before running away.

Police said a brief but violent chase and struggle followed, ending when the officer arrested Castro-Larios.

Smith and Castro-Larios were both positively identified by the victim at the scene and arraigned in Boston Municipal Court later on Tuesday.

Smith was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, dangerous weapon unlawfully carried, and destruction or injury of personal property.

Castro-Lairos was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, interference with a police officer, resisting arrest, dangerous weapons unlawfully carried, and disturbing the peace.

Smith, who reportedly pleaded not guilty and was ordered held in Suffolk County Jail in lieu of $1,500 cash bail, is due back in court June 23, according to the Boston Globe. Castro-Larios, who pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance, is due back in court July 15, the Globe reported.

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