Police identify alleged hatchet-wielding suspect in Allston road rage incident
27-year-old Andrew Oprian is being charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and willful and malicious destruction of property, according to Boston Police.
The warrant was obtained from the Brighton District Court and Oprian is still at large.
The confrontation occurred around 11:45 p.m. on May 16 in the area of 1032 Commonwealth Avenue.
What started as a report of a motor vehicle accident quickly escalated.
Boston 25 News spoke with a witness who said a victim driving a Toyota Prius was being followed by a suspect in a pickup truck at a high rate of speed.
'He had no idea why the guy had been following him. He had no clue. He was shocked,' said witness Matt Silva.
Cell phone released by Boston Police on Sunday shows the suspect repeatedly swinging the hatchet, smashing the windows and windshield of the Prius.
'As soon as he sticks his head out of the car and pulls his key out, some random dude from behind him starts swinging a hatchet at him.'
Silva told Boston 25 News that the man with the hatchet appeared enraged and couldn't be reasoned with.
Witnesses told police they saw the suspect chasing the victim along the sidewalk armed with the sharp weapon.
Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 617-343-4256, or the CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Chinatown acid attack suspect Marquis Johnson charged with assault
Prosecutors charged Marquis Johnson with first-degree assault in the Aug. 8 Chinatown acid attack on a 30-year-old cook, who sustained severe injuries. The 34-year-old was charged at 4 :35 p.m. Tuesday, just under the wire of the 48-hour charging deadline. Had they not met the deadline, police would have had to release Johnson. Johnson's bail was set at $500, 000. First-degree assault is a Class B felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $25, 000 fine. Johnson likely will make his initial court appearance in Honolulu District Court this morning. Johnson surrendered at the main police station at 5 :35 p.m. Sunday after police named him Thursday and provided a photograph to the public, naming him as the Aug. 8 acid attack suspect. Johnson's arrest shocked friends, who described him as a kind, sweet person who danced ballet and flamenco. They had hoped it was a case of mistaken identity, which had occurred before. Johnson was wrongly arrested in 2022 while he was walking along a Waikiki street around midnight on Aug. 22, 2020, where two car theft suspects, who also were Black men, had been in the area. In the complaint, Johnson said he was told to lie prone on the ground, and handcuffed, in a case of mistaken identity, and that one officer used excessive force. The case was recently settled in federal court. In the Aug. 8 attack, police said the suspect approached the victim on the sidewalk, asked him a few questions, then suddenly threw sulfuric acid on the victim. The victim told police he did not know his assailant, police Lt. Deena Thoemmes said. The incident occurred at the corner of North Hotel and Smith streets. An employee of Lucky Belly, a restaurant at that intersection, said the victim, a cook, had come from Livestock Tavern to get some food items from Lucky Belly, which has the same owners. He said the attack occurred just outside Lucky Belly's kitchen after the cook left to return to Livestock Tavern. Police said the acid attack victim returned to his workplace, where co-workers aided him and called 911. A witness provided a description that resulted in a police sketch of a man wearing a do-rag head covering and glasses. Police said the assailant had a camera around his neck and was carrying a red or maroon water bottle. That description was initially shared with the public Aug. 13, five days after the attack. Police also provided images from surveillance video of the suspect, wearing a blue hooded shirt, walking across the street. The acid attack has similarities to two previous attacks, which were related to each other. The first was allegedly carried out by Paul Cameron in 2023 at a Mililani fitness center against a young woman he knew. Cameron also was charged in the second attack as an accomplice in attempted murder in an apparently random attack against a Chinese language teacher. The second attack was allegedly part of a murder-for-hire plot by Cameron to divert attention from him as a possible suspect in the first case. The man facing trial in the second attack is Sebastian Mahkwan, who Cameron allegedly enlisted while they were in jail.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
6 people hospitalized as Boston rocked by overnight violence
Boston was rocked by a string of violent incidents overnight that left at least six people hospitalized, authorities announced Monday. Officers responded to a pedestrian crash, a stabbing, and four shootings between late Sunday night and early Monday morning, according to the Boston Police Department. Pedestrian crash The first incident involved a moped driver who was struck by a vehicle at 41 New Chardon Street around 11:30 p.m., police said. The victim was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police noted the driver involved in the crash remained at the scene. No arrests have been made. Stabbing Shortly before midnight, at 11:56 p.m., officers responding to a report of a person stabbed outside the Home Run Café at 1269 Massachusetts Avenue found a victim suffering from multiple apparent stab wounds, according to police. The victim was rushed to a local hospital. There was no immediate word on their condition. Police believe the stabbing stemmed from a verbal altercation outside the establishment. No arrests have been made. Four shootings Police said officers were called to the scene of four shootings, all in the city's Dorchester neighborhood A man was shot in the area of 20 Ellington Street in Dorchester around 1 a.m. A man was shot in the area of 55 Kingsdale Street in Dorchester around 2:50 a.m. A man was shot in the area of 2 Barry Park in Dorchester around 2:52 a.m. A person was shot in the area of 98 Talbot Avenue in Dorchester around 2:53 a.m. All of the shooting victims were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. No arrests have been made in the shootings. Police told Boston 25 News that "facts and circumstances surrounding some of these shootings appear to be potentially related." Firearm arrest Officers responding to a report of a crash in the area of Dorchester and Talbot avenues around 1:24 a.m. recovered a loaded firearm from the rear passenger seat pouch of a wrecked vehicle, according to police. One occupant was taken into custody and placed under arrest for firearm-related offenses. The name of the suspect wasn't immediately available. All of the incidents remain under investigation. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Drunk driver gets near-max sentence for killing Las Vegas airman, 23
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A drunk driver who killed an airman on a Las Vegas-area freeway will serve nearly the maximum sentence allowed by Nevada law, a judge ruled Tuesday. On April 13, 2024, Hetsel Campos killed Airman Natalie Villegas, 23, as Villegas was driving to work at Creech Air Force Base on U.S. 95. Villegas joined the United States Air Force when she was 18, her family said during Campos' sentencing Tuesday. Earlier this year, Campos took a plea deal, avoiding a trial and sending him to prison for at least two years. Nevada state law requires a judge to sentence drunk drivers who kill to 2-20 years. State law limits the maximum amount of time a defendant can serve in prison before becoming parole eligible to eight years, making 8-20 years the maximum sentence. Campos' blood-alcohol level was about twice the legal limit when police tested it in the hours after the crash, documents said. In court Tuesday, Clark County District Court Judge Tara Clark Newberry sentenced Campos to nearly the maximum penalty: 6-20 years. 'I should be the one that's gone — and not her,' Campos said before Clark Newberry sentenced him. 'I should be the one that's not here.' Campos' attorney, Josh Tomsheck, argued his client had a clean record. Villegas' family pressed the judge for the maximum possible sentence. 'My daughter was taken from us all by an irresponsible decision,' Carol Vanessa Serrano, Natalie's mother, said. 'My daughter had no chance. She was simply on her way to do what she loved, and that was to serve this country.' The crash happened around sunrise near mile marker 99. Villegas was driving northbound toward Creech when Campos rear-ended her at 117 miles per hour, police said after his arrest. In the hours before the crash, surveillance showed Campos drinking at Downtown Las Vegas casinos. For reasons unknown, Campos was driving north, miles away from the Las Vegas valley and his home, police said. 'While on her way to serve our country, you irresponsibly and selfishly came along and took all that away from my daughter,' said Natalie's father, Juan Villegas. 'My charge and my oath is to uphold justice and to hold people accountable for the choices that they make. And unfortunately, Mr. Campos, you made the worst possible choice you could have probably made in your life that night.' Clark Newberry's sentence means Campos will be parole eligible in 2031. A proposal earlier this year from Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo to change the law to allow prosecutors to charge a DUI driver who kills with second-degree murder failed. The amended version would have carried a similar maximum sentence as the state's second-degree murder statute. A second proposal focusing on Nevada's vehicular homicide law also failed. Lawmakers will not reconvene, except for special circumstances at the request of the governor, until February 2027. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.