Plymouth County

Plymouth baseball coach charged with attacking teen in road rage case

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — A Plymouth baseball coach was arrested Wednesday after police say he attacked a teenage driver in a violent case of road rage.

Police say Daniel Kenney, 49, punched the 16-year-old and slammed his head off the steering wheel after the teen drove the wrong way down a one-way street toward Kenney.

Kenney is an assistant coach for Plymouth Babe Ruth and has been a baseball volunteer for six or seven years, the league said.

Police say the teen victim, who has only had his license for about a month, was driving down Birch Ave., around 7 p.m., when he saw Kenney’s vehicle approaching head-on and realized his error.

“He pulled off into the bushes. As this car kept coming at him, the 16-year-old does admit that he gave the gentleman the middle finger,” said Plymouth Police Capt. Jason Higgins. “[Kenney] got out of his car, opened the door of the 16-year-old’s car, started yelling at him and eventually, according to the 16-year-old, the adult – the 49-year-old – did punch him in the temple. And the officer that took the report did notice swelling to the temple.”

But, the teen alleges, Kenney was not done. Higgins said he then grabbed the boy by the shoulders and “started thrashing him around where the kid’s head started hitting off the steering wheel.”

Kenney was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (steering wheel) and assault and battery.

The teen was not badly injured and declined medical attention. An officer gave him a verbal warning and let him go.

Residents of Birch Ave tell Boston 25 News the one-way street had been converted to a two-way temporarily for a couple years. About two years ago, it was converted back to a one-way. But several neighbors say they continue to see wrong-way drivers nearly every day and have witnessed some disputes.

Police said road rage incidents are increasing and urged drivers to keep their cool.

“I think everybody’s stressed out. There’s a ton of traffic right now. We’re coming out of a pandemic,” Higgins said. “We’re seeing more and more of these incidents. People just have to be calm.”

Plymouth Babe Ruth told Boston 25 News in a statement by email Thursday:

“Plymouth Babe Ruth has been made aware of the incident regarding Danny Kenney who is one of the coaches in our program. As this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment until resolution and have the utmost respect for the Plymouth Police Department to complete a very thorough investigation into this matter. "

Boston 25 News tried to reach Kenney at home Thursday, but residents declined to comment.

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