MBTA: Serious Crime Down, Bike Thefts Up

Most incidents were down last year, but bike thefts and aggravated assaults increased.

Crime is mostly down on the MBTA with a few exceptions, according to figures released Tuesday. Serious crime—as defined by the FBI as homicide, rape, aggravated assaults, robbery, auto theft, burglary and arson—went down 11 percent in 2012, MBTA Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan said in a statement. Violent crime, which includes robbery, rape and aggravated assaults, was down 6 percent and there were no homicides on the MBTA last year. There was also a 22 percent drop in robberies, and property crimes, including larceny and theft, went down 13 percent, according to the figures. Aggravated assaults increased over the period, but MacMillan said an analysis of these incidents revealed no pattern. According to the figures, two-thirds of all …

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Shipyard Quarters Marina Owner Fined $25K Per Day

The Boston Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to issue an enforcement order with penalties until piers 6 and 8 in the Navy Yard are repaired.

[UPDATED Friday, 6:18 p.m.] Charlestown residents and city officials had harsh words for Shipyard Quarters Marina representatives at a public hearing Wednesday night, and the Boston Conservation Commission backed up those concerns with a hefty fine for the marina owner. After about an hour of discussion, the commission unanimously voted to issue an enforcement order, fining the Shipyard Quarters Marina Trust and owner/trustee Martin Oliner $25,000 per day until Pier 6 and Pier 8 in the Charlestown Navy Yard are repaired and made safe for the public. “This is your fault. This is your total lack of responsibility,” Conservation Commissioner Stephen Kunian told Asher Herzberg and Tracy Lloyd, who spoke on behalf of Oliner at the meeting. “I …

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Do You Feel Safe Riding The T?

A national organization of state transportation officials awarded the Massachusetts DOT with a high safety honor for highways, but does MBTA need to make the T safer?

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is now nationally recognized for higway safety leadership after receiving an award on Tuesday. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has given MassDOT its 2012 Safety Leadership Award for “taking significant action” in reducing highway fatalities an injuries, according to a MassDOT statement. While the organization was recognized for highway safety, its public transportation sector experienced two negative incidents last week. A Green Line trolley collided with another trolley at Boylston Street Station last week sending passengers flying, and police are still searching for a man who struck a trolley operator at Kenmore Station on Sunday. Do you feel MassDOT is…

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Jay K.

5:57 pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Yup. Plenty safe. Now if they could just stop breaking down and keep clean.   more ›

Police Log: Youth Reports Being Jumped on Bunker HIll Street

Notable entries from the district A-15 police log.

On Thursday, Sept. 27, a former Main Street resident told police that someone had taken a Weber grill from his former apartment. He valued the grill at $750. On Thursday, Sept. 27, a parent reported that her child had been “jumped” by four boys wearing masks and black clothing. The youth had been walking the previous day with a sibling on Bunker Hill Street near Concord Street. When the attackers arrived, the youth told the sibling to flee. The attackers struck the victim in the face, then kicked him while he lay on the ground. They then fled in an unknown direction, the victim told police. Other notable entries: Monday, Sept. 24 Wednesday, Sept. 26

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Chemist Annie Dookhan, at Heart of State Drug Lab Scandal, Alleged to Have Lied Under Oath About Her Education

The chemist whom the state blames for tainting evidence in thousands of drug cases appears to have lied on the witness stand about having a master's degree in chemistry.

Officials have added perjury to claims against a "rogue chemist" at the shuttered state drug lab in Jamaica Plain. It emerged Tuesday that Annie Dookhan, whose actions may have tainted 34,000 drug cases, appears to have lied in court by claiming a master's degree in chemistry. Dookhan, formerly known as Annie Khan, earned an undergraduate bachelor of science degree in biochemistry from UMass Boston in 2001. But, in contradiction of her testimony in a 2010 drug case, she doesn't have a master's. "We have no record of her doing subsequent graduate work at our campus," a UMass official told the Associated Press.   'No one has heard her side' Meanwhile, as convicted criminals have begun to be freed in cases where Dookhan's evidence was used, …

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Parking Enforcement Officer Reports Assault

Notable entries from the Sept. 17-23 police journal.

These reports were submitted from the Boston Police Department and took place within Charlestown's District, A-15. The time and place of the alleged crimes are listed. Persons arrested are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 09/21/12—Assault and battery with a deadly weapon Victim, a parking enforcement officer, states while walking down 8th St a vehicle drove by slowly and the driver threw an ear drop bottle out the window striking the victim in the face. Vehicle then fled the area but not before the license plate was obtained. Detectives are investigating. --- 09/17/12—Bike theft Victim on First Ave reports he locked his gold mongoose mountain bike on First Ave, and when he returned the next day the bike was gone. 09/…

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Police Log: Vandal Leaves Anti-Islamic Message

Notable entries from the District A-15 police log.

On Friday, Sept. 21, officers responded to the corner of Main Street and School Street for a report graffiti. The call that triggered the response originally reported the vandalism as anti-Semitic, but the officer found that it was instead anti-islamic. The graffiti read “Islam sucks! You rat pack Islamic rats. The Warlock. USA #1.” Police forwarded the report to the city’s public works department because it was written on city property. About 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, a victim told police that, an hour earlier, he had seen a man steal his bike. The victim said that the young man was accompanied by two other men on bicycles as he left the scene. Other notable entries: Friday, Sept. 21 Saturday, Sept. 22 Saturday, Sept. 23

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Car Crashes Through Front of Tedeshi's on Main Street

A driver crashed through the front of the Tedeshi on Main Street, Thursday, around 10 a.m. According to wire reports, the incident left two people injured. As of 10:30 a.m., the scene was still active. Reader Garry Waldeck tweeted the above photo.

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Two Suffer Knife Wounds at Bunker Hill Development

Notable entries from the district A-15 police log for Aug. 11-16.

These reports were submitted from the Boston Police Department and took place within Charlestown's District, A-15. The time and place of the alleged crimes are listed. Persons arrested are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 09/16/12—Assault with a deadly weapon—knife As a result of a confrontation between two groups in the Bunker Hill development, two individuals suffered knife wounds to the back and chest areas. Both individuals were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment. Matter is under investigation. 09/12/12—Fugitive from justice Members of the Boston Police fugitive unit, while in City Square, placed an individual under arrest for an outstanding New Hampshire court warrant charging felony …

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