A Massachusetts man and his fiancée were driving in Worcester on Saturday afternoon when a group of teenagers threw a brick through their car windshield, one of 19 cars targeted by the teens, seriously injuring the man.
Emanuel Oliveras, 37, was struck in the face and suffered serious injuries including a broken jaw and nose and muscle damage around his eye, his fiancée, Jessica Laine said. He underwent a nearly 10-hour surgery on Tuesday.
“The bones around his eye were broken so he had to have plates put in just to stabilize the eye itself but he has his vision in both eyes,” Laine told NBC News in a phone interview Wednesday.
Worcester police said four teenagers in a red SUV were throwing bricks at cars driving on city streets when one struck Oliveras’ vehicle.
“It went through the windshield, struck the victim in the face, and caused very serious, permanent injuries,” police stated in a press release. “The victim was transported to the hospital, and officers received information that the suspect vehicle was a stolen red SUV.”
Officers were able to find the SUV and pursued it until it stopped. Police said that two male teenagers fled on foot, but were later arrested. Two female teenagers in the car were also taken into custody.
All four teenagers, who are 15 and 16 years old, face several charges including aggravated assault, battery by means of a dangerous weapon, mayhem, conspiracy, and resisting arrest. One of the teenage boys was carrying brass knuckles, according to police, and faces an additional charge of unlawful carrying of a dangerous weapon.
Their names have not been released because they are juveniles.
“A total of 19 vehicles were struck by bricks and damaged,” police said.
Laine said Oliveras is expected to leave the hospital on Friday but will have to undergo future surgeries. A GoFundMe she created raised more than $9,000 as of Wednesday.
“They could have nearly killed him,” she said. “It’s not a joke.”
