East Boston couple accused in alleged racist attack on restaurant patio after calling in noise complaint
A husband and wife have been arrested after police claim they assaulted and violated the civil rights of people dining at a Colombian restaurant in East Boston.
Authorities arrested Arielle Raso, 37, and her husband Gregory Raso, 39, on Monday evening. Police said the couple called 911 with a noise complaint for the back patio of Tertulias Cafe just before 7 p.m. Officers asked the couple to call back around 11 p.m. if the noise continued, per the city's ordinance.
Instead, police said the couple took matters into their own hands. Within two hours authorities were called back to the Porter Street address for an assault in progress.
Nearly a dozen people were eating on the back patio which shares a fence with the Raso's house. Video shows water being sprayed from a hose to the patrons on the other side of the fence. In their police report, authorities said Arielle Raso admitted to doing it. Additionally, prosecutors claim the Raso's broke a piece of a shared wooden fence and threw it at the victims. One piece hit a 12-year-old.
Police also report that during her arrest, Arielle yelled at the victims, "Get out of this country." "I will kill you. I don't give a [expletive]."
Gildardo Preciado has owned Tertulias Cafe for roughly a dozen years. He said he just attained a permit for the outdoor patio last year when he officially purchased the property his restaurant resides in. But he said this aggressive, and in the prosecutor's view, racist behavior has been going on for years.
"They don't like Spanish people," said Preciado. "That's what they said. But this is a neighborhood full of Latin people. I don't want to give them a hard time, that is where they live. I understand. It has been almost impossible [to do business] going like this."
WBZ-TV knocked on the door listed in the police report for the Raso's. A family member approached and said, "There are two sides to every story," but would not elaborate.
The Suffolk County District Attorney called the incident, "appalling." The Raso's are facing a number of assault and civil rights violation charges. They are due back in court on July 28.
