Police: Man with Eye Patch Robbed South End Metro PCS
Police are looking for a man with an eye patch who reportedly made off with $ 600 from a South End Metro PCS on Tuesday. Boston Police Officers responded to a robbery in progress at 776 Tremont Street at about 3:35 p.m. on June 18. The store’s clerk told police she buzzed the suspect into the store because she recognized him from prior business. However, she said the suspect walked into the store with his hand in his pocket and told the clerk to give him money and not look at him. The victim took out about $ 600 and handed it to the suspect. The suspect told the victim to stop looking at him and get on the ground as he fled out the door, onto Tremont Street in an unknown direction. The only description given to police was that the man was wearing an eye patch. Police are still on the lookout for the suspect. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Boston Police Donate Blood to American Red Cross at HQ
Some of the Boston Police Department’s strongest lined up and waited to donate blood to the American Red Cross on Monday. The Red Cross set up donation areas for officers from all sworn-in officers in any unit around the city. While many cops are happy to donate blood, they also get an extra incentive with the ability to take a half-day off at a later date, thanks to a special order from the city’s police commissioner. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Police: Man Fights Taxi Driver, Police Officer on Tremont Street
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. A California man was arrested in the South End on Saturday for allegedly fighting both a taxi driver and a police officer. A taxi driver flagged down an officer at about 2:38 a.m. on June 15, claiming that a customer had punched him in the head after he told the man to get out of the cab. The cab driver identified the suspect as a man who was standing on the corner of Tremont Street and Hanson Street, police said. An officer then approached the suspect and asked him what had happened. Police said the man appeared to be intoxicated. The suspect then asked the officer for a lighter. When the officer asked again what had happened, the suspect turned and walked away. When the officer followed and attempted to grab the suspect by the arm, the suspect reportedly tried to break free by striking the officer’s forearm and kicking him in the shins, police said. According to the report, the suspect then threw a punch to the officer’s chest. The officer then took the suspect to the ground, where the two struggled until more officers arrived. Officers arrested Miguel Aguirre of 515 Tullock Street, Bloomington, CA and charged him with assault and battery, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on an officer. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Police: Woman Arrested on Drug Charge at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. A resident of the Pine Street Inn was arrested on Monday night on drug charges, according to police. Boston Medical Center Department of Public Safety Special State Police Officers responded to narcotics activity at the entrance of 850 Harrison Avenue at about 11 a.m. on June 10. Through a security camera, officers allegedly observed a woman hand $ 10 to a person, who handed her an orange pill. The woman then put the pill in a small orange pill bottle. Officers stopped the woman and searched her. According to police, they found her in possession of Suboxone pill. Officers also found a black folding knife with a blade longer than three inches, they said. Luis Baez of 444 Harrison Avenue was arrested and charged with possession of a Class B substance. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Police Warn Against Ransom Extortion Scam in Boston
Boston Police are warning residents about a varied phone extortion scam that involves victims being called and told that a loved one or family member is being held captive, or will be harmed, unless a ransom is paid. According to BPDnews.com, the police have taken several reports from residents who have been targets of the scam. In several cases the suspect(s) say they captured their victim after an alleged motor vehicle accident that resulted in property damage that he or she cannot pay for. Family members have been able to contact the alleged kidnapped victim and confirm he or she has not been kidnapped, reported BPDnews.com. “It is not uncommon for the caller to know basic details about the victim’s life, including names of family members, places of employment and school information. This information is used to help convince the victim of the legitimacy of the caller’s claims,” posted the police. Victims are often told to not call the police. Boston police provided tips on receiving similar phone calls: • Ask the caller specifics about where the family member is located• Have the caller physically describe the family member to see if the caller can provide some level of detail that could help confirm or dispel the claim.• After gathering as many details as possible during the call the resident should attempt to make contact with the person that is allegedly being held captive and confirm safety.• If a text is received the resident should first make contact with the person that is allegedly being held captive to ensure that they are safe and if they are unable to make contact then they should probe the individual texting to provide specifics, as mentioned above.• In all cases note the phone number where the call or text originated and report the incident to the Boston Police Department. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Police: Fight on West Newton Leads to Drug Arrest
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. Police who responded to a fight in the South End ended up arresting two men, one on drug charges and one for disturbing the peace. Boston Police officers responded to a fight in the area of West Newton Street and St. Botolph Street at about 4:25 a.m. on Wednesday, June 5, according to police. Officers stopped a group of 10 men on the Southwest Corridor at Newton Street and began to frisk each person. Police reported that one of the men frisked had a lump in his left pants pocket, which he reportedly told police was a “bag of rice.” The officer told the man to take the bag out of his pocket. According to police, the suspect pulled out a large bag of rice packaged with smaller bags of heroin. Officers also found a digital scale and $ 208 in cash. Officers placed Lamar Joel Stanford of 430 Columbus Ave. under arrest and charged him with possession of a Class A substance with intent to distribute. While interviewing the suspect, another man began to yell and cause a disturbance. Police said they told the man to keep his voice down, but he refused. Officers then placed Reginald Kemp of 88 Hazelton St., Mattapan under arrest for disturbing the peace. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Police: Boston Schools Received Suspicious Letters
Boston Police are investigating several suspicious letters sent to different Boston Public Schools today, according to a statement from police. The letters contained “threatening and disturbing” content, said police, but contained no dangerous subtances. Police said the letters were addressed to public schools in different areas of the city and were all postmarked from Texas. Police did not specify which schools received the letters. “Boston Police are collecting the letters and will investigate the source,” police said. “We do not know of any credible threat to our schools.” Police said that school officials will continue to isolate any letters with a Texas address, and that police will increase their presence at schools in the following days and weeks. “While we remain vigilant and are taking appropriate action, we reiterate there is no credible physical threat and the letters did not contain any substances,” police said in the statement. “The safety of our students and school personnel is our top priority.” All families with children enrolled in Boston Public Schools have been contacted through its automated phone message system. You can read the statement in its entirety here. South End Patch
State Police to Crack Down on Texting While Driving
Texting while driving has been illegal in Massachusetts since 2010, but police around the country have said the law is difficult to enforce. Forty percent of Massachusetts drivers say they still text while driving despite a nearly three-year-old law banning such activity and preventing any cell phone use for drivers under 18 years old, according to a poll conducted by Plymouth Rock Assurance. With the help of a federal grant, Massachusetts State Police will begin a statewide crackdown on the illegal and dangerous practice in June. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has awarded the state a $ 275,000 federal grant to increase enforcement of the Safe Driving Law, which bans the sending, typing or reading of electronic messages to or from handheld devices while operating a motor vehicle and a complete ban on the use of all handheld electronic devices by junior operators while behind the wheel, according to a state police press statement Tuesday. The law was enacted in Massachusetts on Sept. 30, 2010. The program, called “Text With One Hand, Ticket In The Other,” will make use of a “high visibility enforcement” model which uses informational road signs, command posts other tools which make the enforcement obvious to the public, according to the NHTSA website. This specialized enforcement will take place in two to four week intervals over the next two years, according to the police statement. The first installment will occur from June 10-29 on state roadways in Andover, Dracut, Dunstable, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro and Wilmington. A recent National Safety Council study has shown that nationwide, 24 percent of all crashes are related to the use of handheld electronic devices while driving, the statement says. As many as 3,000 deaths per year are caused by distracted driving, according to Boston Medical Center. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Chardin v. Police Commissioner of Boston, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-096-13)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC‑11196 MIRKO CHARDIN vs. POLICE COMMISSIONER OF BOSTON & another.[1] Suffolk. February 4, 2013. ‑ June 4, 2013. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Firearms. License. Constitutional Law, Right to bear arms. Delinquent Child. Civil action commenced in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on October 13, 2011. The case was reported by Spina, J. Edward F. George, Jr., for the plaintiff. Keith G. Langer for Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc., amicus curiae. William W. Porter, Assistant Attorney General, for the intervener. Amanda E. Wall, for the defendant, was present but did not argue. SPINA, J. In this case, here on a reservation and report by a single justice of this court, we consider whether the Massachusetts firearms licensing statute, G. L. c. 140, § 131 (d) (i), infringes on Mirko Chardin’s right to keep and bear arms under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution because it precludes him from ever obtaining a license to carry firearms where, in 1995, he was adjudicated a delinquent child[2] after admitting to sufficient facts on a complaint charging him with one count of possession of a firearm without a license, and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition. We conclude that, consistent with the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) (Heller), and McDonald v. Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 3020 (2010) (McDonald), the challenged statute does not infringe on a right protected by the Second Amendment.[3] 1. Statutory scheme. An individual who lawfully wants to carry a firearm[4] within the Commonwealth either must obtain a license to do so pursuant to G. L. c. 140, § 131, or be exempt from the statutory licensing requirements.[5] See, e.g., G. L. c. 140, §§ 129C, 131F, 131G. See also Commonwealth v. Seay, 376 Mass. 735, 739 (1978). “The historical aim of licensure generally is preservation of public health, safety, and welfare by extending the public trust only to those with proven qualifications.” Leduc v. Commonwealth, 421 Mass. 433, 435 (1995), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 827 (1996). In Massachusetts, there are two categories of licenses to carry firearms — Class A and Class B. See G. L. c. 140, § 131 (a) & (b). Each type of license may be issued by a “licensing authority,” […]
Police: Heroin Overdose Leads to Drug Arrest at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. Boston Police arrested a homeless man at Boston Medical Center on drug charges on Friday after a woman he was with requested medical attention. Polie said they received a call for a medical emergency at 830 Harrison Ave at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, May 31st. When police arrived, they reported seeing three men in the waiting room who were reportedly worried about the wellbeing of a woman who may have overdosed on heroin. Upon interviewing the men, police said they determined they had come to Boston Medical Center to inject heroin. The woman reportedly felt sick after injecting and needed medical attention. Upon a search of the men’s backpacks, police found found two hypodermic needles and a tourniquet. In a side pocket, officers found 23.5 white pills identified as Seroquel. According to the police report, this address is known as an area where heavy drug usage and dealings take place. Boston Police arrested Michael Cardin of 794 Massachusetts Ave., the Woods-Mullen Shelter, and charged him with possession of a Class E substance with intent to distribute. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch