Police Seek Help Identifying Armed Robbers Holding Up Brighton Convenience Stores

Boston Police at D-14 station seek the public's assistance identifying two individuals who appear to have committed at least five of eight armed robberies of Brighton convenience stores during the past month.

The five incidents have occurred at: Quality Market, 140 North Beacon Street (hit twice); Tedeschi's, 241 Market Street (hit twice); and Brooks Variety Store, 32 Brooks Street.

People with information contact D-14 detectives at (617)343-4256 or submit anonymous tips at the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at (800)494-TIPS or text the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).

A camera truck from WHDH (channel 7) was seen outside the Tedeschi's in the late afternoon, presumably for a live shot on tonight's newscasts.

OMG: Boston Police Cite Bicyclist for Improper Lighting

I am always amazed when the police in any town or city in eastern Massachusetts cite a pedestrian for jaywalking or crossing illegally, an automobile driver for opening a door into traffic, or a bicyclist for failure to stop for a stop sign or red traffic light. These infractions just seem never to be enforced, although they should be.

Which is why I offer a tip of the hat to the Boston Police, working out of Jamaica Plain's E-13 station, for citing a bicyclist for "Riding a Bicycle without Proper Lighting."

State law requires a red light on the rear of the bicycle and a white one on the front whenever in use at a time more than 30 minutes past sunset (until 30 minutes before sunrise). They also require some kind of reflectors, although these can often be provided by the cyclist's attire.

Why did the police ticket this particular bicyclist? It has something to do with riding erratically at 2 am and unlawful possession of a firearm that had its identifying numbers obliterated. I guess that's the threshold for a citation about unlawful bicycle operation.


Image of Red Bike Reflector by sillygwailo provided through a Creative Commons license.

Stupid Dorchester Criminals Get Lost In Brighton

The Allston-Brighton TAB describes an alleged methadone drug transaction busted by the cops last Sunday evening:

Methadone exchange ends in arrest

Christopher Connolly, 42, of 28 Harbor View St., Dorchester, and Scott Simonelli, 37, of 7 Pleasant St., Dorchester, were arrested Oct. 26 around 6:30 p.m. after officers saw what they believed to be a drug exchange near the intersection of Washington and Cambridge streets... Officers stopped the Nissan and arrested both suspects, charging them with distribution of a class B substance.

A couple of guys from Dorchester caught selling drugs in Brighton. What's so weird about that?

The Boston Police D-14 station is located at the intersection of Cambridge and Washington Streets in Brighton. You would think that all of the police vehicles parked on the street and in the adjacent lot would have tipped the guys off.

Maybe those Dorchester pushers ought to go back to their part of town where they know the lay of the land better.


Image of Boston Police motorcycles by GregMacKay, provided through a Creative Commons license.

Summit Avenue Hydrant Thieves: Learn Your Trade From MIT Hackers

The Boston Police Department caught a few guys on Summit Avenue in Brighton trying to steal a fire hydrant:

When officers arrived, officers observed the hydrant, as well as, three males who matched the description of the suspects. When officers questioned the suspects, the suspects admitted to taking the hydrant. According to the suspects, they found the hydrant lying in the middle of the sidewalk and they were simply moving it.

Yes, those guys were hosed.

Aside from the obvious difficulty of carrying something that heavy, the would-be thieves might try next time to follow the lead of some MIT students in Cambridge a couple of decades ago in an oft-repeated (and somewhat urban-legend-ish) story about their hack.

Those MIT students bought a barber shop pole (or, in some stories, paid a barber to borrow one for a day) and carried it all over town -- arising suspicion all day from the police. The cops chased them down again and again, but then the students would produce the receipt and the cops would let them go. When the cops got tired of these games, an APB on police radio was issued to ignore any kids carrying a barber shop pole around town. The students then proceeded to steal all the barber shop poles in town and dump them on the police chief's front lawn.

Lesson: buy one fire hydrant and carry it all over town first. Once the police tire from questioning you repeatedly, then you can steal all the hydrants you want. That is, if you're arms haven't fallen off first.


Image of red fire hydrant by quite peculiar provided through a Creative Commons license.

A Sign That You're Busted

Early Thursday morning two guys were allegedly stealing street signs in the vicinity of Strathmore Road and Lothian Road in Brighton.

When the police arrived, the two guys were holding street signs and one had a wrench in his pocket. When the guy said that they didn't have to hand over the wrench to the police, the cops arrested them and took the wrench away.

Oh, and the police used the wrench to re-attach one of two removed signs.


Image of signs by Birger Hoppe provided through a Creative Commons license.

Kidnapping Victim Escapes From Car in Oak Square

The Boston Herald has the story of a kidnapping victim, after being beaten and forced into prostitution in New York, who escaped from her captives' car early Wednesday morning while in Oak Square, Brighton:

[Michael A. Smith, Jr.,] 38, of Flushing, N.Y., and Jasmine A. Williams, 21, of Manhattan were held without bail in Brighton District Court yesterday on kidnapping and other charges. Denise Jackson, 28, was held on $50,000 bail for a default warrant in Boston for prostitution and other charges.

A-B Citizens' Alert: More GPS Thefts

From the Boston Police Department's Citizens' Alerts for Allston-Brighton:

GPS Thefts

There has been an increase of property being taken from unattended motor vehicles in the Allston-Brighton sections of Boston, most notably GPS [Global Positioning Satellite] systems. Please safeguard your property such as this by removing them from your unattended motor vehicle, and removing the suction cup holder from the windshield. Most new GPS systems have a lock access option, making it useless to anyone else, other than the owner. Please use this lock option if available. Don’t become an unnecessary victim. Please report any suspicious activity to the Boston Police by dialing 911.

Knife Fight Between Two Employees at IHOP

There was a knife fight early Saturday evening between two employees of the International House of Pancakes at 1850 Soldiers Field Road in Brighton.

The Boston Herald couldn't resist using some colorful imagery:

A knife duel between two workers at a Brighton greasy spoon turned the eatery into the International House of Pain.

The fracas broke out about 5 p.m. yesterday inside the International House of Pancakes on Soldiers Field Road, just as early dinner guests were sitting down to enjoy the food chain’s all-you-can-eat pancakes. But in short order, the clinking of coffee cups was replaced by the sounds of battle.

One employee was badly hurt, but is expected to survive; another had more minor wounds to the hand and has been booked, according to the Herald. WBZ-TV and the Herald have differing accounts on the second employee: WBZ reports that the hand injury was suffered by a third employee who tried to intervene in the incident. What's right? WBZ looks closer to the truth, according to the Boston Police Department report.  (EDIT 1/28/08:  The Boston Globe appears to get it right, too.)

The Herald also notes that "employees were separated in different rooms while detectives checked the restaurant’s licenses near the front door." Were detectives looking for the requisite license allowing knife fights?

BPD D-14 Officers Nab Debit Card Thiefs

In what sounds like an episode of a TV crime investigation show (sans murder), detectives in the Boston Police Department D-14 station have caught two people who, allegedly, stole an 82-year-old woman's ATM/debit card at the AJ Wright store and then proceeded to clean out her bank account. One of the accused is a cashier in the store, and didn't return the card at the end of the checkout. Detectives seemed to have amassed extensive video surveillance evidence:

Around 10:30am on Friday, the victim alerted officers at the front desk of District 14 that her ATM credit card had been stolen and all her savings spent. This was particularly disturbing to officers because the victim is 82 years old and legally blind and had to be assisted by a friend to come to the station.

A district detective was notified regarding this incident and later met with the victim and her friend. The victim reported that her ATM credit card had been used at two different locations nearly depleting all the funds that she had in the bank. Officers subsequently learned of a theft of a credit card that had been captured on close circuit TV by Loss Prevention at the AJ Wright Store located at 60 Everett St. in Brighton and responded there to view the video. There, officers viewed a video of the victim making a purchase and suspect, Smith failing to return her card to her and later passing it off to suspect, King. Officers then responded to the locations that the victim’s card had been used and saw video of suspect, King making purchases using victim’s ATM card.

Based on the information attained, officers then returned to AJ Wright store and in cooperation with store Loss Prevention personnel found out what time suspect, Smith was getting out of work, and also learned that suspect, King usually picked her up. At approximately 10:40pm, officers placed both suspects under arrest when for the above noted charges when suspect arrived at the store to pick up suspect, Smith.

Upon arrest, at no time did the suspects give the peace sign and state, "I'm from Compton." (Follow link to bottom of page...)

One of the suspects allegedly bought groceries, then a pair of sneakers -- and then the sneakers were stolen from him.


EDIT (12/4/07): The Boston Globe ran the story on the front of their City/Region section. Arniya Smith, he AJ Wright employee -- former employee now -- who allegedly lifted the debit card apparently has several outstanding warrants and is being held on $10,000 bail. No word on why TJX, who owns AJ Wright, would hire someone with outstanding warrants and then put the person at the register.

Legal Trouble for Another BC Football Player

While the Boston College football team has impressed the ACC with their 10-2 season record and a birth in the ACC championship game this Saturday, they will be playing without backup running back A. J. Brooks, who has been suspended indefinitely from the school.

Brooks has been charged with "assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (his shoe)" stemming from an incident Sunday night in which he allegedly kicked a visitor to BC in the face. (The Boston Globe and Boston Herald erroneously reported earlier that the victim was a residential adviser/assistant.)

Brooks's legal problems add on top of two other BC football players -- DeJuan Tribble and Gosder Cherilus, who were arrested over the summer after a fight in a North Station bar, and later charged with assault and battery. (The Boston Globe article strangely only notes their arrest but not that they were charged.)

Neither Tribble nor Cherilus were suspended for their actions over the summer, while Brooks was suspended without delay. All three were charged with the same assault and battery. The Greatest Bar incident at North Station led to the victim, Sean Maney, needing emergency spinal surgery a couple of days later. (Maney was also charged in the incident, as was off-duty State Police Sgt. Joseph Boike.) BC football coach Jeff Jagodzinski did not respond to the Globe's request to describe why (backup running back) Brooks was suspended, while (starters) Cherilus and Tribble were not; Jagodzinski only said that each case is treated separately.

Methinks it smells suspiciously like the star players getting preferential treatment over the expendable backup player.

Student Death on Allston's Glenville Avenue

The mainstream media has been covering this story, hence I'll just provide a summary and links here.

Early Saturday morning, November 17th, there was a large fight at 14 Glenville Avenue in Allston, MA 02134. Police officers responded and found a 21-year-old photography major at the Art Institute of Boston, Shawn Dow, lying in a back alley. He later died. He apparently fell off of the roof of the building. The coroner later determined that he died from the fall itself, but no police or coroner statement has been made about what caused him to fall off the roof (accidental or intentional); this last element of the story is yet to be resolved.

BPDnews 11/17/07: death investigation
Boston Globe 11/18/07: police interviews indicate faller from building and brawl inside building were separate incidents
BPDnews 11/18/07: deceased identified as Shawn Dow, 21, of Peabody
Blog comment from "pierce" 11/18/07: Dow had "footprints all over his chest" (note: unconfirmed report, taken from a now-removed, second-hand EMT report of a not-fully-specified fatal party fight. EMT report probably removed for legal reasons.)
Boston Herald 11/18/07: broken bottles litter building's stairwell, bannister poles missing
Boston Globe 11/19/07: story on Dow, friends, and family
Boston Herald 11/19/07: Dow's mother suspects foul play causing Dow's fall, since police photo of Dow's face, she says, looks like "someone hit him"
BPDnews 11/19/07: death is not listed as a "homicide" as of this date
Allston-Brighton TAB 11/19/07: Conway Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home in Peabody is handling funeral arrangements; Art Institute planning a memorial service
Salem News 11/19/07: interviews with family, friends in Peabody area
BPDnews 11/19/07: cause of death consistent with a fall, as opposed to injuries sustained as the result of assault; interviewed 20+ witnesses which don't place Dow at the scene of the brawl
boston.com report on the same 11/19/07
BU's Daily Free Press 11/20/07: anonymous witness says that Dow had severe injuries to his face, despite being found near-dead on his back after falling from the roof. Brawl reported to have included breaking bottles over people's heads.
Salem News 11/20/07: "Witnesses quoted in some media reports said Dow had been beaten in a fight."
Allston-Brighton TAB 11/20/07: details on the wake, funeral, and burial of Dow

Boston Police "Citizens Alert" 11/20/07: "On Nov. 17^th 2007 the Boston Police responded to a large fight at 14 Glenville Avenue where a party was being held and found a male lying on the asphalt in the rear alley of 14 Glenville Ave. Autopsy reports indicate that this male sustained injuries consistent with falling off the roof. Anyone with any information relative to this incident is advised to call the Boston Police @ 617-343-4256 and speak to the Detectives."

Boston Police are looking for tips in the investigation: Crime Stoppers at 1-800-494-TIPS where anonymous tips can be placed.


On an unrelated note: three young men were arrested on gun charges in the area of Tremont Street and West Newston Street on Friday night, November 16th.

Another unrelated note: the two Brighton bank robberies on Friday, November 16th, were accompanied by two others in the Boston area. Some of the suspects have physical features that do not match each other. Since this year has seen 118 bank robberies in Massachusetts thus far, it is unusual to see four on the same day.

Robberies at Two Citizens Banks in Brighton

Two robberies, one armed, occurred Friday morning at different Citizens Bank branches in Brighton.  The armed robbery was at the bank next to Whole Foods at 35 Washington Street, while the second robbery (where no weapon was shown) was at the bank in Brighton Center at 414 Washington Street.

BPDnews, the Allston-Brighton TAB, and the Boston Globe have short stories up already.  Neither robber has been apprehended yet.

Heroin Bust Near Monastery Road

Heroin bust near corner of Washington Street and Monastery Road (near St. Elizabeth's Medical Center and Fidelis Way public housing):

Two Arrested On Drug Charges

Yesterday at 4:01pm, members of the Drug Control Unit from District D-14 (Allston / Brighton) were in the area of Washington Street and Monastery Road when their attention was drawn to two males sitting in a black vehicle looking down onto their laps. Officers walked by the vehicle and observed the passenger with a folded scratch ticket and a q-tip on his lap. Officers approached the vehicle and identified themselves and observed the driver drop an uncapped hypodermic needle to the floor. Officers recovered a dollar bill from the floor, which contained one open plastic bag of tan powder believed to be heroin.

Mathew Baldwin, 26, and Michael Baldwin, 22, both of Cotuit were arrested and charged with Possession of Class A and Possession of Class C.

Armed Robbery Near Oak Square YMCA

From the BPD Daily Incident Report for 10/12/07:

Two Arrested For Armed Robbery

Early this morning at 1:38am, officers from District D-14 (Allston/Brighton) responded to a radio call for a sexual offense in the rear parking lot of the YMCA in Oak Square, involving two males one wearing camouflage. Officers observed two individuals fitting the description running down Nonantum Street. Upon seeing the officers, the suspects split up and ran in different directions.

A victim, who stated that those two men just robbed him, flagged the officers down. The victim further stated to officers that he was about to enter his house when the suspect called him over them. The victim further stated that the male with dark clothing held a gun to his head, while the other suspect held a knife to this stomach. The suspects demanded the victim’s wallet.

Officers observed the suspect with a white and black jacked jumping the fence, attempting to leave the park and enter the rear parking lot of the YMCA. The suspect was apprehended in the parking lot and was in possession of a knife. The second suspect was spotted running into the backyard of an address of Bigelow Street. The victim positively identified both suspects as the men who robbed him.

Two 19-year-olds from Brighton, Nicolas King and Daniel Mariano, were both arrested and charged with Armed Robbery.

He Flat-Out Stated That He Was Steamrolled Into Doing It

I can't make this stuff up:

DARE YOU TO DO IT

At about 3:30am, on Sunday, September 23, 2007, officers from Area D-14 (Brighton) responded to a radio call for a fight at 15 Pratt Street. On arrival, officers observed a small group gathered in the middle of the street. Officers spoke to the victim who stated that an individual, after being dared, jumped into the seat of a steamroller, started it up and, then, drove it into his car. Officers observed minor damage to the bumper of the victim’s car. When speaking to the suspect, officers observed that it appeared the suspect was under the influence of alcohol. Officers arrested Matthew Gilman, 22, of Allston and charged him with the Destruction of Personal Property and Larceny of a Motor Vehicle.

You can say the vehicle was pressed into service. The police officers got the ball rolling by taking him down to the station.

S&M Prostitution Dungeon Unearthed on Leicester Street

Ummm... not your usual story in the Police Blotter: an S&M dungeon being used for prostitution on Leicester Street in Brighton Center, according to the Boston Herald and the A-B TAB. In true Herald fashion, the article provides a complete price breakdown.

From Linebacker to Alleged Line-seller

Usually, the Allston-Brighton TAB's police blotter listings of drug activity consist of people caught with "personal" quantities of a single drug, more often than not caught in the Allston Village neighborhood.

So I was a bit surprised to see this listing of a perp allegedly caught with three drugs (where the street value of the cocaine itself is $2800), an electronic scale (which might lead an ordinary person to suspect dealing), a wad of cash, and all this happening a block from Cleveland Circle:

Former BC athlete busted

Former Boston College linebacker Raymond Henderson, 23, was arrested on May 17 at his apartment at 29 Sutherland Road after a warrant search turned up a sizeable quantity of drugs. Police reportedly recovered approximately 28 grams of cocaine, several bags of marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, a large electronic scale, and $3,612 in cash. Henderson was arraigned Friday morning in Brighton, charged with trafficking in cocaine and possession of class C and D substances with intent to distribute, and held on $5,000 cash bail. He’s due back in court on June 19 for a probable cause hearing.

Post a comment with your own version of a title for this post -- mine is certainly not the best one around.