Once again offering no specifics whatsoever, Deval Patrick has made the claim that he is a "victim of violent crime."

Patrick, who has been the subject of pointed TV ads run by Healey painting him as a defender of convicted criminals, fired back yesterday after the candidates spoke at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce breakfast. He said Healey was politicizing the cases and has never set foot in a courtroom.

“I’ve been a victim of violent crime as a kid,” Patrick told reporters. “I don’t need to be lectured to about respecting victims. I understand frankly (how) injecting this into a political campaign raises all the pain of the victim’s family all over again.”

Asked what specific crimes were committed against him, Patrick referred generally to a gang-related assault. “I got beat up, I got . . . you know, there was a lot of gang violence. There was a lot of recruiting going on. It was a long time ago.”

Pressed further by reporters, Patrick said there was gang violence in his neighborhood “that touched my family, that touched me, it was around us. It was a part of our life, my family’s life and my life.”

After the event, sources told the Herald that Patrick was referring to being mugged as a teenager in his native Chicago neighborhood and that his childhood home had been burglarized.

Clearly, whether true or not, this appears to be an attempt by the Patrick campaign to create a John Kerry-style "you can't question my patriotism, I served in Vietnam" defense.