Boston Police are reporting that District A-1 officers arrested a suspect wanted in connection of three recent armed robberies in the North End, including the one previously reported at Bob’s Grocery. The suspect had a loaded gun at the time of his arrest, which was made around 9pm on Friday night by patrolling officers in the area of Charter Street and Jackson Avenue, near Copp’s Hill Terrace.
Police arrested Dante Mirabella, 53-years-old, of Boston’s North End. He is charged with three counts of Armed Robbery for the following incidents, all which describe the suspect using a handgun and demanding cash.
- the first robbery took place at about 12:26 AM on May 29, 2019, in the area of 450 Commercial Street. A male and female had exited Rocco’s Cucina & Bar after closing time and were confronted by the suspect as they walked up the street. The suspect displayed a handgun and demanded cash. The victims handed over money and the suspect fled on foot.
- the second holdup took place at about 10:52 PM on May 29, 2019, in the area 37 Merrimac Street (parking lot) and
- the third armed robbery took place at about 6:50 PM on May 30, 2019, in the area of 160 Endicott Street (Bob’s Grocery, see previous post).
According to BPDNews.com:
On Friday night, patrolling officers in the North End observed a male matching the description of the suspect wanted in connection to the three recent armed robberies in the area. Officers continued their surveillance of the male, further observing him engaged in multiple hand to hand drug transactions in the area of 190 Salem Street in the North End before getting on a bicycle and fleeing the area. Officers followed the male to the area of Charter Street and Jackson Avenue where they observed him enter the passenger’s side of an unoccupied parked motor vehicle. Officers observed the male remove an item from his back waistband and place it in his front waistband. Officers immediately recognized the item to be a firearm and quickly approached the suspect. Officers ordered the male out of the vehicle and attempted to secure the firearm, but during the process, the suspect grabbed a hold of the firearm’s handle in an attempt to remove it. Officers were able to take the firearm from the suspect before placing him under arrest. Officers recovered a Highpoint .380 caliber firearm loaded with seven rounds of live ammunition.
Mirabella is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on charges of Unlawful Possession of a Loaded Firearm, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition Subsequent Offense, and Firearm Violation with Prior Violent/Drug Crime Conviction.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Good work by BPD in getting this dirtbag of the street so quickly before someone was hurt or worse.
Now the question IS What will the JUDGE do with him!?!?!
Remove him from society and do not let him out until he needs a walker.
Is that really what you want? I can think of a few North End-native business owners that spent time in prison. Would you have preferred them to receive the sentence you propose for Mr. Mirabella?
Yes. Mr Mirabella is a danger to society. Wake up and smell the coffee.
The Globe says he is 53 yo. I think Massachusetts has additive terms for guns in commission of crime. The gun was unregistered and he got popped for excessive ammunition as well. It’s up to the DA to make the charges stick. Worth watching .
Thank you BPD!
Unbelievable a North End kid doing this s**t in his home town too smh
Hardly a kid! Sadly peddling drugs AND robbing people. Great work getting him off streets so quickly.
they go together like peas and carrots. Probably less needles left in playgrounds now …. if they can keep him off the streets.
Hey Joan, would the be on the new DAs “do not prosecute” list? I think she has her manicures on Mondays.
The POS won’t be shucking anymore.
Get your facts straight not same person
I suggest you get your facts straight before typing.
Instead of letting that “POS” spew from your mouth you should know who you’re talking about! Hiding behind the keyboard? Who is the real “POS”?!?!
The Lenny the Clam of our day?
Anon, what is he ? Your connection or something. In spite of the rumors or what people want to believe, there are a group of folks who still frequent the North End, you still don’t want to screw with. If one of them were in the store, he be happy to have been arrested by the Boston Police, then face them. And those guys are the nicest guys around, until you urk them.
Apparently there two with the same name around here. This the older one that got arrested.
Daniel C, not following your comment be more specific please. The guys I grew up with would have “handled” the suspect in the store robbery themselves and the cops and courts would be the least of his troubles.
I for one am glad that Dante got caught ,,because he can now get the help he needs and unfortunately you have to hit rock bottom to realize that your in trouble,,from a addicts mother let me tell you something,, that drug has a hold over you like the devil,,yes it was a addicts choice to use but unfortunately there is something in the brain that needs the drug,, for the grace of god go i,, say a prayer for Dante instead of calling him names,, no 9ne grows up wanting to be a s4ug addict,, his family is hurting as it is they don’t have to see the mean nasty comments about him,, thank you
Well said Joanne! Instead of saying these harsh things about Dante, maybe they should say a prayer for him and his family. Dante comes from a good family, like most people who are addicted to drugs. Im sure his family is relieved he got caught, so now they may begin the healing process. Say a prayer for him before you open your mouths to judge and then maybe say a prayer of “Thanks” for your own family that drugs has not touched your lives. 🙏❤️🙏
Carla and Floeys Mom: Your comments were heartfelt. So true and humane what you wrote. The Mirabella family is a good family and I, too, believe they deserve better attitudes towards them at this time.
Good family or not, he left a trail of victims. Fortunately, no one was killed, but he was carrying a loaded gun and using it to commit his crimes. If the police had not been able to arrest him, it’s a good bet that it was a matter of time before he shot someone at close range. Since the police caught him with the gun on him and loaded, there is no reason to believe that he was done. That gun was going to be used again and being high or not, he had enough sense to mske sure that the gun was unregistered. Addiction isn’t a free pass to kill someone.
No addiction isn’t,, my daughter was a drug addict for over 15 years,, she was clean then use ,,when she was on the drugs she was this crazed stranger,,the point im trying to say is I’ve been there and not only does addiction affect the user it affects the family,,the family is already heart broken about this and then to read the rude comments about him, I know that people talked about my daughter and it hurt ,, but people also loved my daughter and prayed for her to get well,, I hope that Dante gets the help he needs and I’m sure he is mortified for what he did because that was the evil Dante the drug addict Dante,,, not the sweet Dante that he is,,my daughter died last year of a overdose and is at peace now,, I wish people would just think before they write of family members feelings and send a good thought or send a prayer,, for the grace of god go i
I respect and sympathize with families who have a family member who has substance abuse issues. A couple of points I am not hearing any compassion for the victims of this man’s actions. He was observed peddling poison in the neighborhood , he reached for a loaded weapon as the police approached him. Residents of the North End longtimers or newcomers are entitled and deserve a safe neighborhood to raise their families and children without fear of being robbed at gunpoint ,without needles in our parks and streets and without drugs being peddled often in broad daylight.
Michael I do have compassion believe me,, I myself have been robbed,,scammed and hit by my late daughter for money for her fix,, I’d get her sectioned she do good then mess up,, some people have a receptor in the brain with opiates,, she didn’t start off as a drug addict ,she got in a car accident was prescribed Peres and that was the end of that, I stil loved her and prayed for her,, and I heard when things were said about her and to be honest it hurts,, my point of the post was say a prayer for Dante that he gets better and that wasn’t the real Dante it was the herion aka the devil taking over,, and thank god he didn’t kill anybody, scared them bad ,,
Unfortunately, when our govenment unapproved all COX2 inhibitors about 15 years ago, they left people with chronic pain little or no alternative. People almost immediately started turning to opiods, and some to heroin. The FDA, with ears closed, would not even consider any type of reconsideration. I recall reading an article by a doctor who said people would move to adictive slutions. They predicted the drug epidemic. Your daughter may be entitled to whatever settlement the states are making against the opiod manufacturers. Too bad you can’t sue Washington bureacrats.
I hate people who hide behind a keyboard and sit upon a throne judging others…money can always be replaced, no one got hurt and the perpetrator is going to have to answer for his sins. How many of the people typing junkie have enough balls to say it to the guys face. None. Zero. Must be nice to live a life without sin and sit and talk trash about others misfortune. People make mistakes in life, unless of course you are here calling othera junkies and scum. Guy has 10x the heart yous do, just because he did some bad things doesnt make him a bad person who needs to rot away in a prison cell…I’m a life lobg north ender my family has been here over 3 generations so when anonymous people start throwing out these monikers that dont apply I get enraged because the only thing you know about that person is probably the worst thinf they’ve done in their life. Lets put your worst moment on the news with your name so we can all sit back and character assasinate yous
Before criticizing others remember this quote: “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”
– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
Here’s a better one :
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Jesus
Armed robbery …. well let me think. OK, never.
Floeys mom, I took offence to some comments that people were attacking this man’s family for his actions and that just isn’t true Not one person who left a comment attacked his family. Substance abuse , addicts junkies or people who are addicted destroy, Lafamiglia, marriages, friendships, and neighborhoods. I feel for you and the issues with your daughter. I never got involved with drugs and without naming people or going into details I lived through the drug explosion in the NE in the late sixties and watched many of my friends die , become hopeless addicts and become people I didn’t recognize any longer and many of these kids came from good families. What I learned very early was that their is a fine line between support and enabling. My point is regardless who the person is we can’t condone or make excuses for the actions of people who commit violent crimes and sell drugs in the neighborhood he lives in.
Michael they didn’t personally attack the family but the comments hurt the family ,, read the comments and put yourself in the mirabella family’s shoes, they are hurting as it is with Dante being duck then to read comments about him hurts more.. My mother used to say a old italian saying..look up in the air and spit were does the spit go? Like I said addiction is horrible it’s the devil and a addict does do what they do to survive ,, say a prayer or good thought for a drug addict ,, I survived the 70 in the north end we’re a lot of people I knew died from drugs also
I know Massachusetts has a history of turning a blind eye according to who your relatives are, but this was armed robbery. As he got easy with the weapon, it was only a short time before he would shoot someone. If someone points a gun at you, you should always assume you are about to be killed. Reality is different from TV.
Also my daughter got in a car accident when she was 20 the drs percribed Percocet which set of her addiction ,, before her car accident she was pretty. Full of life happy dressed well took good care of herself after getting hooked she was never the same ,,thersxa receptor in the brain for addiction.. I was on pain killers for a while and didn’t get high from them I was very fortunate,, I guess I was one of the lucky ones
Floeys mom, Doctor’s who hand out opioids like M&Ms are another contributor to the drug problem. Their the equivalent of dealers with a medical degree and license.Every addict I grew up with had a list of the Doctor Feelgoods who would write scripts to anyone and everyone.