Foursome charged with attacking woman who tried to stop assault

Norwich — Four people, including a teenager, are facing charges after police say they turned on a woman who tried to intervene in their attack on a man in the middle of Boswell Avenue early Monday morning.

Norwich police said Wednesday that the woman, Thaniyyah Hutchinson, told them she was driving on Boswell Avenue just after midnight on Monday with her 18-month-old child in the back seat when she saw four people physically attacking a black man and yelling racist epithets at him near the intersection with Hickory Street.

She told police that when she called 911 and tried to intervene, the people turned on her, smashing the rear passenger window in her car and yelling racist epithets at her. The child in the back seat was not injured, police said.

Police said the man the group had been attacking ran away and has not been identified.

When police arrived, they said Hutchinson identified four people who were standing nearby — including one 15-year-old boy and three adults who live in Norwich — as the people who had attacked her.

The teenager faces multiple charges, including three felonies: second-degree intimidation based on bigotry or racial bias, assault on a police officer and risk of injury to a minor along with interfering with an officer and third-degree criminal mischief.

Police said when they tried to arrest him, one of the women in the group, Brenda Mejia, 57, tried to stop them and pushed the officers. She was charged with interfering with an arrest.

The three other adults involved, Lindsey Wysoczynski, 25, Julie Wysoczynski, 35, and Derek Dixon, 26, all of Norwich, have each been charged with breach of peace and third-degree intimidation based on bigotry or racial bias.