Boston Police Sargent Thomas Lema and Officer Teddy Boyle started off the March 1, 2012 North End Public Safety meeting with the news that longtime District A-1 Captain Bernard O’Rourke had been promoted to BPD headquarters. The new head of District A-1, including the North End, will be Captain Thomas Lee. (See separate post.)
Carrying on the meeting, Sgt. Lema said, “Everything will remain the same as far as communication. We appreciate the people that show up at these meetings. We want to be here. We want to be accountable and hopefully we can work to solve your problems.”
Police reviewed the North End crime statistics for the last 30 days, ending March 1, 2012. Numbers in parenthesis are from the same period last year.
0 homicides (0)
1 sexual assault (0)
1 robbery (0)
1 aggravated assault (1)
2 break-ins (1)
2 auto theft (1)
6 larceny ex. car breaks (3)
4 larceny from motor vehicle (6)
0 graffiti (2)
2 towed vehicles (5)
A sexual assault occurred on February 9th in the vicinity of Hanover St. and is being investigated as an “indecent touching.” A resident contacted her landlord about a sink problem. A middle-aged “handyman” showed up and indecently touched the victim.
Bob’s Groceries at 160 Endicott St. was robbed on February 24th. An unknown male about 30 years old held up a female employee victim with a knife. About $600 was taken from the cash drawer and Mass. lottery receipts. The suspect fled toward N. Washington St. and was seen entering a black Ford Taurus that was reported stolen from Revere.
At 109 Prince St. on February 11th, an aggravated assault was reported with a black handgun that turned out to be a pellet gun. After a fight, two victims took the gun away from the 13 year old North End suspect. Police are following up with the mother.
Two break-ins occurred in the last 30 days at 16 Battery St. on February 3rd and 327 Hanover St. on February 17th. Both were reported to have occurred in the early morning hours. Nothing was reported taken at the Battery St. address despite signs of a break-in. The Hanover St. incident involved an old and new boyfriend situation. A suspect was arrested in that case.
Six larcenies involved property taken from buildings. The addresses involved include 64 Cross St., 75 Commercial St., 292 Hanover St., 135 Prince St., North St. and 47 N. Margin St. Some of the incidents involve students visiting other apartments stealing laptops from unlocked interior units.
There were four car breaks during the month on Stillman St., Atlantic Ave., Thacher St. and Commercial St. Items stolen include pocketbooks, laptops and GPS units.
There were three arrests in the last 30 days. On February 24th at 5:55 pm, the BPD drug unit arrested a Malden resident distributing Class D drugs (marijuana). Police had been watching the suspect for several weeks. The second arrest is the aforementioned old and new boyfriend case at 327 Hanover St. The third arrest was a domestic incident on February 25th, 2:55 pm, identified as an assault and battery on North St. also involving a boy/girlfriend situation.
Three loud parties were reported to 911 in the last 30 days at 27 Sheafe St., 18 Parmenter St. and 19 Cooper St.
Police addressed the vandalism that occurred on the Harborwalk during school vacation week. (See Extensive Vandalism on the North End’s Harborwalk.) BPD have added extra patrols to check around the Steriti rink and waterfront area.
A North End resident reported drinking in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground based on sightings of beer and alcohol bottles in and around the cemetery. Another resident reported screaming by a group from 3:30 am through 5:00 am last Saturday on the street at the corner of Salem and Parmenter Streets.
New District A-1 Captain Thomas Lee will be attending the next North End Public Safety meeting on Thursday, April 5, 2012, 6:30 pm at the Nazzaro Community Center, 30 N. Bennet St. The meeting is open to all residents and business owners.
