PRESS RELEASE
$2 Million Bail
for Youth, 16, Charged in Assault and Robbery Spree
BOSTON, Jan. 21,
2015—A 16-year-old robbery suspect identified in part through MBTA public
safety cameras is being held on more than $2 million cash bail after his
arraignment as a juvenile on two additional criminal complaints, including one
that alleges sexual assault, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley
said.
The juvenile,
whose most recent address is in Lancaster but who has ties to Dorchester, was
arraigned on two separate complaints yesterday in the Juvenile Session of
Dorchester Municipal Court. On a complaint charging delinquency, to wit: armed
robbery for a Jan. 11 incident, he was held on $25,000 cash bail. On a second
complaint charging delinquency, to wit: kidnapping, assault with intent to
rape, assault with intent to murder, and indecent assault and battery for a
Jan. 13 incident, he was held on $1 million cash bail.
Those
arraignments followed Jan. 14 proceedings in the Suffolk County Juvenile Court,
where he was charged in two additional Jan. 13 incidents and held on $500,000
cash bail on each of two separate complaints charging delinquency, to wit:
kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, armed robbery, and
attempted kidnapping
Based on the
investigation thus far by MBTA Transit Police, Boston Police, and Suffolk
prosecutors, authorities believe the juvenile is responsible for four separate
assaults:
·
An incident at about 10:00 p.m. on Jan. 11, when
the juvenile allegedly approached a teenage male at Fields Corner station and
demanded money while motioning toward his waistband as if he had a firearm. The
victim had no money and the assailant instead took his Samsung S1 cell phone.
He described the assailant to MBTA Transit Police as an African-American male,
18 to 19 years old, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, red pants, and red
sneakers.
·
An incident at about midnight on Jan. 13, when
the juvenile allegedly followed an adult female from Fields Corner to Neponset
Avenue, stuck what she believed to be a gun in her back, and ordered him to
return with him to Fields Corner. The woman escaped by suggesting they walk
along Gibson Street – which she knew was home to the Boston Police C-11
district station. She bolted away from him, ran into the station, and described
her assailant as an African-American male, about 20 years old, wearing a black
jacket, dark pants, and carrying a red and white bandanna.
·
An incident at about 12:25 a.m. on Jan. 13 in
which the juvenile allegedly grasped a handgun-like object in his jacket
pocket, demanded a woman’s iPhone while riding the Red Line inbound between
Savin Hill and Andrew stations, then tried unsuccessfully to drag her off the
train. The victim notified MBTA Transit Police and described the assailant as
an African-American male wearing a black jacket, red hooded sweatshirt, dark
pants, and bandanna over his nose and mouth.
·
An incident at about 12:45 a.m. on Jan. 13 in
which the juvenile allegedly assaulted an adult female at Fields Corner, put
what she believed to be a gun to her back, and brought her to a nearby location
where he sexually assaulted her and took her purse, containing an iPhone and
identification cards. The victim described her assailant to Boston Police as an
African-American male, about 18 years old, about 6’ tall, skinny, in a red
sweater, black or red pants, and a bandanna over his face.
Shortly after
the first attack was reported, MBTA Transit Police began reviewing footage from
public safety cameras in the area of Fields Corner. They soon observed an
individual whose clothing was generally consistent with the victim’s
description. As the three subsequent attacks unfolded early on Jan. 13, they
communicated with Boston Police and shared the evidence they had developed thus
far. Based on clothing descriptions, pattern evidence, and footage from MBTA
public safety cameras, investigators grew confident that one perpetrator was
responsible for all four offenses.
“Information
sharing across departments linked four violent crimes to one suspect,” Conley
said. “Cooperation like that solves crimes and helps us hold offenders
accountable.”
Just a few hours
after the last attack on Jan. 13, Transit Police observed footage of the
juvenile, wearing clothing consistent with the unknown assailant, at Fields
Corner. Transit Police immediately responded to the area and ordered all trains
held at the station. The juvenile was not on scene when the first officers
arrived, but they soon located him at a nearby McDonalds on Dorchester Avenue.
The officers
recovered a replica handgun from the juvenile’s waistband. At the time of his
arrest, he was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, a black vest, red-and-black
sneakers, and a pair of red pants underneath a pair of black pants. In his
possession were a bandanna, a bank card and iPhone belonging to the sexual
assault victim, and another iPhone belonging to the woman robbed on the Red
Line train.
“Public safety
cameras played a major role in these cases,” said Interim Transit Police Chief
Kenneth Green. “But even the best camera footage is useless without
professional investigators to identify and apprehend the suspect it depicts.
Transit Police and Boston Police worked together to do just that, and the MBTA
and the city are safer today because of it.”
Assistant
District Attorney Michael V. Glennon of the DA’s Juvenile Unit arraigned the
juvenile on all four cases. Erin O’Conner is the DA’s assigned victim-witness
advocate. The juvenile is represented by attorney Jeff Richards and will return
to court on Feb. 10.
MEDIA: inquiries should be directed to LT. Richard Sullivan at rsullivan@mbta.com