A Dorchester man was charged with a variety of offenses – including possession of a stun gun – after Boston Police arrested him and his Stoughton companion for a violent purse snatching on Massasoit Street Saturday morning, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

NATHANIEL WEBSTER (D.O.B. 1/29/79) and TAMEIKA DUNBAR (D.O.B. 8/13/82) were arraigned in West Roxbury District Court today on charges of armed robbery and assault and battery. Webster was additionally charged with possession of an electric stun gun and resisting arrest; Dunbar was additionally charged with failing to stop for police.

Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Grasso recommended that Webster be held on $25,000 cash bail and that Dunbar be held on $20,000. Judge Pamela Dashiell set bail at $15,000 for the former and $5,000 for the latter, but at Grasso’s request revoked Dunbar’s open bail on an unrelated case out of Brockton. Dashiell also ordered both defendants not to have any contact with the victims while their cases are open.

Boston Police were dispatched to a robbery in progress in the area of 19 Massasoit St. just before 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. As they were responding, the officers were advised that two assailants, one male and one female, had robbed two victims and fled in a small, red car.

Two responding officers spoke with the victims, both 18-year-old females. The women told officers they had been walking along River Street from the Mattapan MBTA station when a small, red car began to follow them. That car parked and moments later they were attacked from behind by a man and a woman. Neither victim saw the assailants’ faces, but collectively they described a light-skinned black male in a black jacket and hat with a light-skinned, heavyset black female wearing a green or black sweatshirt and jeans.
The victims were punched and beaten to the ground and the suspects made off with their purses.

Additional Boston Police officers saw Dunbar’s red 1998 Dodge Neon a short time later turn off River Street, onto Tileston Street, and then onto Radcliffe Road. Based on the suspect vehicle’s description and the close proximity to the robbery call, the officers stopped the car.

Almost immediately, prosecutors say, Webster jumped from the car clutching a black and white purse and a black bag in his hands. Despite the officers’ orders to stop, he allegedly fled into the backyards along Fairlawn Avenue, eventually tossing the bags. Police apprehended him in the rear of a Ranley Road residence. Dunbar remained in the vehicle until ordered out by additional officers.

A search of the purse Webster allegedly discarded turned up a driver’s license and checkbook in the name of one victim, along with jewelry and electronics she’d previously described. Unexpectedly, however, the officers also found a Terminator brand electric stun gun in the purse: the victim told officers she’d never even operated such a weapon before. In Dunbar’s car, the officers found additional items belonging to the victims including two debit cards and a wallet. They also recovered a pair of black gloves and a set of aerobic hand weights that the officers noted can be used in a physical assault to cause more damage.

Both defendants will return to court on Dec. 23.