Crime
In some of the robberies, prosecutors allege the victims fell to the ground and suffered injuries.
A 22-year-old Boston man was ordered held without bail Tuesday on nearly two dozen charges tied to nine separate robberies targeting older women, officials said.
Daneuris Diaz was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty and was ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing Thursday morning, court records show.
Diaz was indicted June 23 on a total of 22 charges: five counts of larceny by stealing from a person over 60, five counts of larceny of a credit card, four counts of fraudulent use of a stolen credit card, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of unarmed robbery, one count of assault and battery on a person over 60, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a person over 60, and one count of uttering threats, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office said in a statement.
Diaz is being accused of “routinely” targeting elderly women while riding by them on a moped, the DA’s office said.
The charges stem from nine separate incidents, beginning on Nov. 26, 2025, when Diaz allegedly robbed an 85-year-old woman on Richie Street in Jamaica Plain, prosecutors said.
During the incident, Diaz reportedly lifted his sweatshirt and motioned toward his waistband, where the victim saw what she believed to be a gun. Diaz then said, “Give me everything you have, or I’ll kill you,” according to Hayden’s office.
As Diaz allegedly fled with the woman’s belongings, prosecutors say, the 85-year-old fell and struck her cheek on the pavement.
Officials said her stolen items included a credit card, which was traced to a purchase made shortly after at a Family Dollar in Dorchester.
Diaz was arraigned in the Roxbury division of the Boston Municipal Court and released this past February under pre-trial conditions of home confinement and GPS monitoring, court records show.
He was released from home confinement on April 10, prosecutors noted.
Starting three days later and continuing until April 25, Diaz allegedly carried out eight more robberies targeting women between the ages of 44 and 78 in Dorchester, Mattapan, Mission Hill, and Jamaica Plain, Hayden’s office said.
In two of those encounters, prosecutors say the victims sustained injuries after falling to the ground.
Investigators had initially identified Diaz through previous booking photos and a large rose tattoo spanning most of the top of his right hand. To conceal this feature, prosecutors allege Diaz wore a glove on his right hand during several of the April robberies.
Authorities later recovered matching clothing and two right-handed gloves from Diaz’s home that correspond with surveillance footage from the robberies, according to Hayden’s office.
“The facts here lay out a reprehensible pattern of robberies and assaults targeting some of our most vulnerable citizens,” Hayden said in the statement. “The painstaking work by detectives to identify and build cases against this individual deserves enormous credit and immediately enhances the safety of our neighborhoods.”
Diaz’s attorney did not respond Tuesday evening for a request to comment.
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