Boston Criminal Defense Lawyers Blog

Early Monday, more than a dozen teenagers were removed from an outbound MBTA train after "T" police received reports of a fight on board the Franklin line commuter rail. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo stated that transit police responded to the Readville Station and removed the teenagers.

In a second incident, MBTA and Quincy police were called on reports of a fight at the Wollaston red line station. When police arrived at the station, they located two groups of males who admitted to being involved in an altercation. Reports indicated that neither group intended to press charges.

In addition to the fight, MBTA employees reported that a window on the red line car had been destroyed during the fight. Quincy Police detained a man, 28, of Abington, after he was identified as having broken the window by a witness.

The full article can be seen here.

Continue reading "Two Fights Reported Aboard MBTA Trains" »

An Attleboro woman and a Beverly man were charged recently in what Massachusetts prosecutors are calling, "the biggest fare evasion scheme in MBTA history." Assistant Attorney General Gina Masotta reported that the two collected thousands of dollars a month selling MBTA passes in person and on Craigslist.

Masotta told authorities, "the value of the tickets was over $4 million and at least 20,000 passes were illegally obtained." The passes were illegally obtained through one of the suspect's brother, who worked for a company that handled sales of the MBTA passes online and by phone.

The Attleboro woman, 41, is being charged with conspiracy and receiving stolen property. The man, 28, of Beverly is also being brought up on charges of receiving stolen property in connection with the MBTA pass scheme.

The full article can be seen here.

Continue reading "MBTA Fare Scheme Finally Put to a Stop" »

Riders on an MBTA bus refused to let a woman and her 2 year old child exit after witnessing the woman assault her young son by striking his face. MBTA Police arrived at the intersection of Warren and Brunswick Streets in Roxbury to discover a group of angry riders circling the woman and her child.

Reports indicate the police were able to separate 25 year old Erica Ryan and her child from the group, but not without difficulty. Witnesses on the bus told police they heard Ryan directing obscenities at the child when he wouldn't eat and then they saw her strike his face with a closed fist.

According to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Esther Laine, a security camera on the bus captured Ryan punching her son in the face with enough force to cause his head to snap back in his stroller. The child was transported to Boston Medical Center for treatment.

The full article can be seen here.

Continue reading "Woman Assaults 2 Year Old Son on MBTA Bus" »

According to MBTA officials, a 20 year old man from Chelsea is being held on bail after he was found carrying a loaded gun through an out of order MBTA gate that he was using to evade the fare. The man was stopped at the Andrew Square station by MBTA police when they discovered he was using the nonoperational gate.

Reports say that the man appeared nervous when he couldn't immediately produce identification upon request. He allegedly, "gave the officers a small crumpled up piece of paper, and fled on foot."

Police were able to track him down, force him to the floor, and handcuff him. As the officers were tackling him to the ground he reportedly reached toward the right part of his body where he had a loaded handgun. The man was charged with fare evasion, possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition, and unlawful carrying of a loaded firearm.

The full article is featured here here.

Continue reading "MBTA Police Catch Armed Man Evading Fare" »

According to reports MBTA police are searching for a man who they allege took indecent pictures under a woman's skirt on a Green Line train. According to the MBTA the alleged incident happened on Saturday between the time of midnight and 12:40 a.m. The suspect photographed the woman on an outbound Green Line train leaving Park Street, and then he got off at the Paul Street stop.

The suspect is being described as a Hispanic male, between 5'6" and 5'8", with a slim build and a faux-hawk hairstyle. The suspect was also seen, on two separate days, wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, and a white t-shirt.

The MBTA investigation has indicated that the subject rides the Green Line trains in a deliberate loop from the Park Street or Government Center station to the Kenmore Station. MBTA investigators are having difficulties locating the suspect and they are asking anyone with any relevant information about him to please come forward.

The full article can be seen here.

Continue reading "Police on the Lookout for Man Taking Inappropriate Photos on the T " »

An MBTA employee tackled an armed robbery suspect in an East Boston Blue Line station, and held him down until police could arrive and make the arrest. Surveillance video in the blue line Maverick Station captured the scene in which a MBTA inspector tackled a man who had allegedly taken a woman's purse. The inspector, Ira Lawrence, was at his usual booth when he witnessed the crime and ran after the offender.

Lawrence said that, "the lady was facing toward the platform waiting for the train and he was standing behind her about 15 feet away, and as the train came in he walked up and went over and grabbed the purse. I ran after him and tackled him to the ground and called for the police." Lawrence, who is 6 foot 4 and weighs 280 pounds, held the suspect for 5 or 10 minutes until police arrived.

Boston police reported the suspect is Sean Snellman,32, and was accompanied by Brittney Grisolia, 20. Both Snellman and Grisolia were arrested and taken out of the station in handcuffs. The Boston police also reported that both suspects were armed with knives.

The full article can be seen here.

Continue reading "MBTA Employee Tackles Armed Robber" »

The MBTA system is not perfect and accidents do occur. A major accident caused around 50 non life threatening injuries on the Green Line stop in Government Center just last summer. The driver in that accident was at fault for the accident because he was texting his girlfriend and not paying attention. This accident was a major news story because of the extent of the damage but no one involved was killed.

Fatal accidents unfortunately do occur, and on February 20 around 5:30 at night inside the Central Square Red Line station a man was struck and killed. It has not been confirmed, but reports have stated that the man was on the tracks before he was struck and killed. The train service was interrupted between the Harvard and Park Street stations on the red line for around two hours.

The MBTA accidents on the red line during the months of December, the most recent month surveyed, had declined from the previous month. According to the MBTA Scorecard per 1,000,000 miles traveled the red line in December reported only 3 accidents. That was down from 5 accidents reported per 1,000,000 miles traveled in the previous month of December. These statistics take into account all accidents and does not distinguish between major and minor.

A brief report is featured in the Boston Globe: MBTA subway train strikes, kills man