Security guard accused of attacking homeless man with cane

BOSTON — A homeless man says he was attacked at North Station in Boston by a security guard at the T station.

“I live a tough life out here. I have nightmares of that,” said Michael Hathaway.

It’s been four weeks since a security guard at North Station allegedly beat Hathaway, a disabled homeless man, with his own cane, according to the MBTA Transit Police.

Superintendent Richard Sullivan said surveillance cameras caught it all and it started when Hathaway was asked to leave the station around 9 a.m. on Dec. 22.

“He kicked my bad leg and I said, ‘hey what the 'f' are you doing?’ He said, ‘you're outta here,’"  he said.

Transit Police said that the guard forcefully shoved Hathaway from the back, causing him to do face first into the metal doors.

“If it didn't have a bar across it, I probably would have went through the glass,” said Hathaway.

The surveillance video was not released to the media, but Superintendent Sullivan says Allied Security Guard Renee Noresant Jr. grabbed the 52-year-old’s cane and hit him in the head at least three times.

Witnesses, including another security guard, reported the attack.

“It appears that the security guard looks around to see if anyone’s watching and he then strikes the victim in the face,” said Sullivan.

Noresant has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and was taken off the job this week.

“The garden is accountable because they hired him. So they are accountable for what they do,” said Hathaway.

In a statement, Allied Security said, “we take any allegations extremely seriously and do not condone this type of behavior. We will be reinforcing our standards of conduct with our staff."

Sullivan says the shove was unprovoked, but the guard says he was provoked by racial slurs. Investigators say there is no evidence of that.

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