Massachusetts had more than its fair share of crimes this past holiday weekend. There were shootings in the Boston area, one homicide and, as one would expect from such a weekend, plenty of vehicular crimes. Criminal Defense attorneys will be needed.
For example, one Massachusetts woman was arrested this weekend in Salem, N.H., after police said she stole purses and led them on a harrowing chase with her 12-year-old daughter in the car.
This would be Maria M., 36, of Lawrence (hereinafter, “Mother Defendant”). She is said to have targeted customers at the Christmas Tree Shops, Target, and Market Basket in the area. According to the authorities, she would reach for purses left in shopping carts while the women looked away and “larcenied” her financial cares away.
According to witnesses, Mother Defendant brought a “young girl”, presumably her daughter, along for the July 4th festivities, as she liberated items from said purses.
Once the police spotted the described car, along with the occupants matching the description, they tried to pull her over.
This did not go too smoothly.
The result was a “wild chase” through Salem, New Hampshire, ending in a gas station where Mother Defendant’s car is said to have slammed into a car that was parked at the gas pumps, flew into a tail spin and finally smashed into a telephone pole.
The investigating officers say they found the contents of allegedly stolen pocketbooks in the car, as well the juvenile. Mother Defendant faces a slew of charges including endangering the welfare of a child.
“Right now we are looking into whether the child was used as an accomplice. It looks some cases she was used as a lookout,” said Sgt. Michael Kelley.
Mother Defendant is scheduled to be arraigned today at Rockingham District Court.
Meanwhile, some drivers stayed in Massachusetts….although we may wish they hadn’t.
Within two consecutive nights, state troopers were seriously injured after being struck by automobiles according to officials from the Massachusetts State Police.
Captain Frank Hughes, a 24-year veteran of the state police, was directing traffic in Cambridge following the Fourth of July concert and fireworks display on the Esplanade when he was hit by an allegedly drunk driver at approximately 12:30 a.m., police said.
The crash is said to have thrown Hughes onto the car’s hood, causing serious injuries. He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was treated and released this morning.
“He’s doing well recovering at home,” State Police Sergeant Matthew Murray said.
The alleged driver, Felix M, 30, of East Boston (hereinafter, “Driver Defendant”), was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and other offenses, such as the vehicular assault. He is being held at State Police Brighton Barracks and will be arraigned today in Cambridge District Court.
State police said the facts and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.
On Sunday morning, another state trooper suffered a leg injury while working a highway detail in Peabody after a car sideswiped him in an apparent hit-and-run.
“It’s obviously disturbing that in 24 hours we’ve had two state troopers injured,” Murray said. “It’s a danger that state troopers and all law enforcement officers face every day. Thankfully in these two situations the injuries weren’t more severe.”
Attorney Sam’s Take:
All the alleged motorized perpetrators in today’s blog, including the one still on the loose, are lucky that the injuries did not include death. Otherwise, accidental or not, they would be facing homicide charges.
Holiday weekends, particularly July Fourth, are known for drunk driving arrests and related crimes. Of course, daily crashes including police officers is neither a norm or a tradition we wish to encourage. For the most part, as the courts look upon such crimes, particularly when they involve substance abuse, they are seen as truly voluntary crimes.
They are treated harshly, particularly when they include high speed chases or leaving the scene of the accidents. Such acts bring the matter to a new level and, as I have often discussed, hand the prosecution new ammunition to use at both bail argument (“This is an example to show that the defendant will not return to court, judge”) and in trial as consciousness of guilt evidence (“The defendant knew he was guilty, ladies and gentlemen…that is why he sought to flee…endangering further those around him”).
Said flight is hardly ever successful in the long run (no pun intended) and only makes matters worse.
Meanwhile, another such flight is under investigation in Roxbury. It is the flight after a quadruple shooting which has led one person dead so far.
…And so we begin another week in which people, victims and accused alike, will pick up the pieces of a holiday weekend.
I hope your weekend was better than it was for these people.
Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
In the meantime, of course, if you are dealing with similar circumstances and would like to confer with me about them, please feel free to give me a call at 617-492-3000 .
To view the original stories upon which today’s blog was based, please go to http://www.bpdnews.com/2010/07/05/boston-police-seek-communitys-cooperation-regarding-quadruple-shooting-on-hendry-street/, http://www.wmur.com/news/24142473/detail.html and http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/for_second_stra.html