Family Of 82-Year-Old Driver Beaten By ATV Riders In Boston Asks For Help Finding Attackers

BOSTON (CBS) – Richard Bell will spend Thanksgiving in the hospital, recovering from injuries in a horrific attack. The 82-year-old from Brookline was surrounded and assaulted by a group of people riding dirt bikes and ATVs in Boston last Thursday.

Police and his family are seeking the public's help in identifying the suspects.

State Police said Bell was driving his Buick Century from Park Drive to Boylston Street on November 18 when 30 to 40 dirt bike and ATV riders forced him onto the curb. Several of them started smashing his windows.

Police said the group followed Bell from Boylston Street to Storrow Drive, where he tried to get off an exit in Allston. The group then surrounded and attacked him.

"He put his window down to ask occupants of another car to call 911," State Police said. "While the victim's car window was down, one of the riders, a male, approached him on foot and began punching the victim through the open window."

The suspects also threw a piece of pipe and a large rock through Bell's windows.

Bell was able to get to a convenience store in Allston where Boston EMS met him and rushed him to the hospital.

Bell's granddaughter told WBZ-TV Wednesday that he will still be in the hospital for the holiday getting treatment for serious injuries. She also said it could have been a lot worse.

"He recently went under a pretty serious heart surgery and one punch to the heart could have landed him in a casket instead of a hospital bed, and so that's really upsetting to think about," she said.

Police released surveillance video of the group wanted in the attack. Anyone who witnessed it or has photos or video is asked to contact State Police.