Busy night last night in the greater Boston area…in terms of shootings.
At last count, five deaths took place. Others were left wounded.
WBUR and WBZ told me the news earlier this morning.
There were shootings at 12 Ernst Street in Roxbury. Two died earlier this morning. One neighbor told WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Karen Twomey that the suspect in Roxbury “just came up and started shooting.” Boston police believe the victims in Roxbury were targeted and that the shooting was gang-related.
An attorney from Quincy, Massachusetts believes that one of his clients may have valuable information that could help FBI agents identify the men involved in an art heist that took place at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The attorney George Burke, who formally worked as a district attorney for Norfolk County, has stated that his client believes he can identify one of the men pictured in surveillance footage released from the museum that depicts the heist taking place.
The client, who has respectfully requested to remain anonymous at this time, is an antiques dealer who recognized one of the individuals in the video as someone he knew who also worked with antiques at the time. He has stated that the individual in question had connections to a man by the name of Myles Connor—Connor, a man from Milton, Massachusetts, had been suspected of playing a role in the heist for many years. At the time of the incident however, Myles Connor was already in federal jail for other crimes. He has stated to authorities that while he had originally planned an art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1988, he was not the one who hired this crew in 1990. The client of George Burke who was able to identify the man in question contacted his attorney after surveillance footage had been released earlier in the week. The man asked for attorney Burke to release the information on his behalf, stating that he was “…deathly afraid of being killed.” Following this exchange, George Burke contacted the U.S. District to notify Carmen Ortiz of the development. Continue reading
The kidnapping of two children from Abington, Massachusetts sparked an Amber Alert Thursday afternoon. The two children were found safe later in the day in Yarmouth, Massachusetts and police have arrested the children’s mother in relation to the kidnapping. 7 year old Nathalia Portela Coelho and her 8 year old brother Nathan Portela Coelho were abruptly taken from their home Thursday morning by their mother after she impersonated police to enter the property where the children live with their father.
According to preliminary reports released from responding officers, the Abington police department received a phone call at approximately 9:00 AM Thursday morning alerting them of the ongoing situation. The father of Nathalia and Nathan reported that the mother of his children, Bruna Gomes, knocked on the door and declared “Abington Police, open the door,” before pepper spraying the caretaker who answered the door and forcefully letting herself inside the residence at 94 Walnut Street. After making her way inside the apartment, Bruna Gomes physically extracted her two children from the premise and fled the scene. Following the report of the kidnapping, Abington Police issued an Amber Alert detailing the vehicle Gomes was driving. Police asked for individuals across Massachusetts to be on the lookout for a blue, 2007 Nissan Quest minivan with a Massachusetts license plate reading: 985TM9. Continue reading
Police officers in Brockton, Massachusetts had their hands full on Tuesday night when they had to actively pursue vehicles in three separate chases that took place throughout the evening and into late night hours. One of the incidents involved an individual who already possessed three active warrants when he sped by Brockton police officer Lt. Kenneth LeGrice around 5:12 PM Tuesday. LeGrice was monitoring traffic around the area of Spring Street and North Warren Avenue when he became aware of the man with the active warrants.
The man in question is Gerron Allen Harper, 21 years old, from Worcester, Massachusetts. When Officer Lt. Kenneth LeGrice attempted to stop Harper, he sped away—which led to the first car chase the Brockton police department would encounter in just a few short hours. According to reports provided by Lt. Kenneth LeGrice, after failing to pull over for Lt. LeGrice, Gerron Harper drove into a parking lot located at 139 Pleasant Street. However, he didn’t stay there long. Just moments later Harper drove over the curb and out onto Pleasant Street, where the pursuit continued. LeGrice said that after Harper pulled onto Pleasant Street, he pulled off the road again to enter the parking lot of a Vincente’s grocery store. Harper didn’t wait there long either. Shortly after pulling into that parking lot, he sped off again, this time onto Green Street followed by Highland Street. Not long after, Gerron Harper crashed his car into the front steps of a residence located at 60 Highland Street.
After Harper crashed his car into the steps of the building, he immediately jumped out of the car and fled from pursuing officers on foot. He was finally reprimanded by Brockton police officers in the backyard of another residence located at 71 Highland Street.
As I Mentioned in my last post, I will be discussing an attempted murder case where we recently obtained a not guilty. In today’s blog, I will be discussing our client’s arrest, arraignment and the subsequent dangerousness hearing that was held prior to his release. For a recap of the facts please see my last blog. As a reminder, any and all identifying information (names, dates, locations, etc.) will be altered to protect the identity of our clients.
…And yet again we have a story in which a Massachusetts teacher is implicated in a sex crime. This time, it is not Possession of Child Pornography, but the actual sexual assault of a child.
MyFoxBoston tells us that a teacher, or now former such thing, at Norfolk County Agricultural High School in Walpole has been charged with the sexual assault of a child.
Continue reading
Sam and I just wrapped up an attempted murder trial with a Not Guilty on all counts. Over the next couple blog posts I will be discussing various issues that came up throughout the litigation and the strategies that we used in order to put ourselves in the best position at trial. As always, any and all identifying information (names, dates, locations, etc.) will be altered to protect the identity of our clients.
Continue reading
An armed home invasion in Bedford, Massachusetts has left three individuals with various non-life threatening injuries. According to preliminary reports provided by the Bedford Police Department, three additional men broke into the home of the three victims at approximately 2:00 AM on Wednesday morning. The apartment where the altercation occurred is on the second floor of a shop located on North Road in Bedford. The suspects fled from the scene before police arrived—and now Bedford Police are requesting help from anyone who has information pertaining to the invasion.
The men who were injured in the attack are all in their twenties and they all suffered non-life threatening injuries. After police responded to the home invasion, the three victims were transported to a local hospital where they were further interviewed for information that could be helpful in identifying their attackers. Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno issued a statement to reporters saying that he believes that these attacks are not random. Based on evidence acquired from the initial investigation, Chief Robert Bongiorno surmises that the home invasion and subsequent assault are possibly drug related or could have been an attempted robbery. He believes that at least one of the three suspects that carried out the attacks knew one of the victims personally, perhaps through a work connection. Continue reading
The man accused of abusing a dog that came to be known as Puppy Doe over two years ago was sentenced yesterday for larceny charges brought against him in a case relating to the owner of the animal. Radoslaw Czerkawski, a 34 year old Polish immigrant, was found guilty of theft—he had stolen over $130,000 from the elderly dementia patient he had been entrusted to care for. The patient, 95 year old Janina Stock, passed away in August of 2013, and at the time of her death those investigating the matter had discovered that Czerkawski had been stealing her assets as well as neglecting to actually care for the woman. A report claims that in the entirety of the time that Czerkawski spent taking care of Janina Stock, which was roughly seven months or so, he never once took her to her see a doctor. He would frequently leave her alone while he made overnight trips to Connecticut. And according to investigators, he also severely abused, mutilated, and starved the woman’s dog.
The family of Janina Stock is still in shock about what had taken place right under their noses. They expressed a great sense of disbelief and confusion. Radoslaw Czerkawski had apparently informed the Stock family that he was in the country to become a priest. Now he has already stood trial for larceny and faces up to three to five years at MCI-Cedar Junction state prison for his crimes. He is scheduled for a hearing on August 14th, at which time they could potentially set a trial date for his animal cruelty charges. A man that was hired by an elderly woman’s grandchildren to be her constant companion and to provide her with the care she so desperately needed, violated every possible aspect of her life shortly before her death. Continue reading
Alejandro Done, 46, hereinafter, the “Defendant” was in Charlestown District Court this morning. He was arraigned on a rape charge stemming from a July 29, 2006, sexual assault on a woman near Moakley Park.
He remains in custody, held without bail, as the Commonwealth intends to have a dangerousness hearing to show that he should continue to be so held. Said hearing is currently scheduled for July 27th.
This Thursday, the Defendant will be arraigned on charges involving a July 29, 2007, attack along the Esplanade.
You might think that this is bad enough. However, in addition to the summer attacks of 2006 and 2007, law enforcement indicates that the Defendant will be charged with at least three other summertime attacks. These are alleged to have occurred on June 16, 2007, July 13-14, 2009 and June 13, 2010.
Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog