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Guy charged with running down elderly man is on probation for beating up a mailman
By adamg on Thu, 06/07/2018 - 3:40pm
Phocian Fitts, who faces charges he ran down an 80-year-old man on Commonwealth Avenue in Allston yesterday is on probation for beating up a mailman near his Fidelis Way home in 2014 because the postal worker had kicked an unleashed, barking dog belonging to Fitts's mother.
Fitts was arrested last night after doing an interview with WFXT in which he admitted hitting the man - and in which he said he was a gangsta, but a good kind, the kind who supports youth.
According to an affidavit filed by a postal inspector in the case against him in US District Court in Boston, the self described gangsta turned violent on Dec. 16, 2014.
According to the affidavit, a mail carrier walking his route along Fidelis Way was approached by a woman - who turned out to be Fitts's mother - walking two small dogs towards him, one leashed, one unleashed. Both dogs began barking at the letter carrier, who asked the woman to control the dogs, the affidavit says. But one of the dogs moved toward the postal worker, who then kicked it to get it away from him.
The affidavit continues that Fitts, sitting in a car nearby, saw this, got out and confronted the mailman, who ignored him and continued on his way to the mailroom at 35 Fidelis Way. There, the affidavit says, both Fitts and his mother began yelling at the letter carrier, and then Fitts punched him to the ground and kneed and kicked him. A few seconds later, residents who saw what was happening stopped the beating.
In January 2016, Fitts pleaded guilty. In exchange, federal prosecutors agreed to let Fitts enter a federal program aimed at helping people charged with certain crimes change the behaviors that got them into trouble without requiring them to go to prison.
In March, 2017, after he completed the program, a federal judge formally sentenced him to three years probation.
| Attachment | Size |
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 Affidavit in the Fitts case | 249.65 KB |
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Comments
Being a good gangsta is not a defense
Neither is it a good idea to tell a reporter that" people hit and run people all the time." These diversion programs are a joke and victims of criminals repeated bad behavior are the ones who are punished.
These diversion programs are
These diversion programs are a joke
Frankly so are jail sentences.
This guy Fitts is extremely dangerous!
He should not go free, under any circumstances.
Violent criminals should not
Violent criminals should not be allowed to have drivers licenses. It is common sense to take away their legal access to dangerous weapons, be it a motor vehicle or a gun.
Isn't 35 Fidelis Way public housing? And Fitts was driving his mom's brand new SUV? If someone can afford a brand new car then they can afford to pay their own rent.
This state is built for men
This state is built for men like Fitts. Being a criminal and raking in government benefits only gets you what you want and let go for bad crimes. Imagine being free after beating someone down for no reason, able to speed through the city on any given day (while others are busy at their jobs) , and killing someone in a hit and run. Only to not care. Must be nice to have immunity.
FTFY
This state is built for men like Trump. Being a criminal and raking in government benefits only gets you what you want and let go for bad crimes. Imagine being free after dodging the draft for no reason, able to loot the treasury for your businesses on any given day (while others are busy at their jobs) , and taking babies from the parents when they legally apply for asylum. Only to not care. Must be nice to have immunity.
Well Played. Every Right Wing Talking Point in One Comment
- Big Government. Check. This state is built for men like Fitts
- Nanny State. (see above)
- Welfare Racket. Check. raking in government benefits
- Soft on Crime. Check. let go for bad crimes
- Society in Chaos. Check beating someone down for no reason / speed through the city
- Us vs. Them. Check. while others are busy at their jobs
- 'Illegals'. Check. Must be nice to have immunity
A couple of points lost for not working in transgender bathrooms or fruitcakes somehow, but still . .
And?
Just because they're talking points doesn't mean they're false.
Sometimes it means they're true.
Especially when they are.
And mass incarceration isn't working
And it cost taxpayers billions. And we're trying to enact more effective corrections policies. And it's time to change course from Reagan "tough on crime" and Clinton "bring them to heal" criminal justice ideology.
Says who
and more importantly...how's the soft-on-crime approach adopted by places like Mass and California working out?
Repeat gun offenders keep getting arrested for shooting at people on the streets of Boston and you can't park a car in San Francisco without having it broken into.
Support for; in the States
Support for reform
Reform in the States
How about instead of "hard" versus "soft"
we adopt "smart-on-crime?"
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/news/2017/05/12...
Billions?
Perhaps, but they don’t get to cause trillions of dollars worth of damage while they’re locked up - emergency surgery for gunshot/stab wounds or addiction treatment/rehab is way more expensive than keeping a violent criminal/dope peddler in jail.
Actually:
Fitts was not a "welfare -king" but working as a security guard, per this article.
He was given probation for his first offense so he was not given any immunity. And he is now being held on bail. So, again, not given any immunity.
So, the OP post was way off and your post, per usual, is way off.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2018/06/suspect_in_fatal...
When did I say he was an
When did I say he was an illegal? By immunity I was implying he’s untouchable since he’s a criminal. But yes he is just cruising through life thus far.
How can someone be so wrong?
Do you actually think before writing your words down, Republican?, or are you just spewing crap like Mr. Trump?
Not to mention
...His previous conviction was on a federal charge. In Federal Court. Nothing to do with this state.
You’re absolutely right!
You’re absolutely right! People like him shouldn’t have a license. He followed and beat up a mailman for “kicking” a dog that was trying to bite said mailman. Who is to say he wouldn’t use a MV as a weapon? He wasn’t sharp enough to know beating a USPS employee is a federal crime, It’s frightening. After watching his Fox 25 interview (confession), it started to make sense. He saw nothing wrong with his actions.
With these kind of morals
He ought to run for president
Mass.used to revoke driver's licensees for unrelated violations
of law. They found it limited employment opportunities and lead to recidivism.
Where he lives ...
His employment opportunities would be limited only by his not wanting to walk or take the bus.
That’s no excuse. Stop
That’s no excuse. Stop defending laziness.
How about this?
The RMV suspended his license after his arraignment because he has TWO earlier incidents of LEAVING THE SCENE!
Yes TWO hit and run events before this one.
Explain why he shouldn't be in jail for ONE hit and run? I think that needs to be changed.
Sorry. I was talking about revoking lic. not for cause
but post incarceration for matters unrelated to driving record.
They pay some rent there....
nt
Aw Pete
You're ruining Kinopio's drama by presenting facts
Beats a federal employee
And doesn't go to jail? Does this mean I can throw a haymaker at the next Tub Stacking Administration (expletive) who gives me any crap at the airport?
That's a big negative there, good buddy
I suspect you don't belong to any of the right demographics you need to belong to to get a pass on the rules everyone else has to follow.
Nope. You've got to pay your taxes, pay for your own housing, renew your driver's license and LTC on time, carry your passport and present yourself to customs and border patrol when you cross an international boundary, and generally act like a responsible civilized human being.
Oh, and you've got to make sure to bow at the waist and belt out a hearty and sincere "thank you" when you're inevitably accused of all the usual (and maybe some unusual) isms and phobias for pointing all of this out.
This is a truly fascinating
This is a truly fascinating comment. The author seems to imply that minorities generally get preferential treatment by the US justice system? I suppose the comment's author feels he would be treated better by the police if he were a minority, and would also have a much more happy and fulfilling life if he lived in public housing or subsisted on food stamps. Furthermore, this is obvious to all observers, but for some strange reason, those who point this out are often accused of racism for no reason. What a unique and interesting way to see the world.
Police and judges are different branches of government
I doubt he'd receive better (or worse) treatment from the police, but he's certainly received favorable treatment from the judiciary. Call it a down-market affluenza defense.
Wow
The interview was chilling and damning, but the speed with which certain commenters moved right into bashing residents in public housing and blowing their dog whistles was pretty chilling as well.
Let's stick to the suspect in this particular crime, shall we?
right into bashing reisdents of public housing...
..even though it was residents of public housing who stopped the beating
Ah
I can see how this one would be a toughie for a dyed-in-the-wool leftie.
The crime is fair game...since he was driving a car and cars are bad, but the criminal's history and character and upbringing are off-limits because they're irrelevant; he only turned bad when he sat down behind the wheel?
And the mailman had it coming to him because...his shorts and pushcart look silly? And the post office is a tool of oppression somehow? Unless the mailman was black, in which case...um...help? Someone? Anyone? Willie Horton?
Why would it be at all
Why would it be at all relevant that this guy lives in public housing?
So here's the deal with public housing, food stamps, et al
It all enables freeloading and irresponsibility.
This is a distinct and separate statement from
"Everyone in public housing, on food stamps, and medicaid is an irresponsible freeloader."
Lots of people I know were on food stamps or reduced lunches at some point in their lives (that's what happens when you hang with immigrants from the Eastern block in the early 90's), myself and the wife included. But the point is we all learned English, got credentialed, got jobs, and pay our own way to the tune of not being eligible for the free shit no more.
That's what responsible, hardworking, fair-minded people do. They utilize the safety net when absolutely necessary but they work their damnedest so that it isn't necessary. They work for their supper, and the roof over their heads, and their cars, instead of expecting someone else to give it to them.
People who spend their whole lives on the public dole...I have to assume some are good people who got dealt a bad hand, but it's downright delusional to assume that giving out free shit won't invite a population who are happy to take it since it relieves them of the responsibility of pulling their own weight and modeling good behavior (read: being responsible and pulling your own weight) for their children. Dude who runs down a man in the middle of the street (in his mother's car--why buy your own when you can just have someone else's?) and thinks it's all good...Exhibit A of what can fester in that environment.
That's what's wrong with public housing, food stamps, "universal basic income" and the rest of it. In theory it does some good for people who need it. In practice it rewards antisocial behavior.
Ant and grasshopper, 'cept the ant works his ass off and the grasshopper can just chill and collect his government check paid for by the ant's taxes and a load of Chinese debt. Debt the Chinese can afford to buy 'cause they work their asses off too.
There are plenty of Massachusetts
rightly and lefty political blogs. Go there. This thread is about
So, now we have it.
Ok, Roman. Goody for you. In regards to what is false and true, your post is so full of judgements and misconceptions that I do not know where to begin. It is boiler plate, conservative clap trap: the poor are poor because they are lazy and blah, blah, blah.
Here we go:
"Lots of people I know were on food stamps or reduced lunches at some point in their lives (that's what happens when you hang with immigrants from the Eastern block in the early 90's), myself and the wife included. But the point is we all learned English, got credentialed, got jobs, and pay our own way to the tune of not being eligible for the free shit no more."
What makes you think immigrants are not learning English, are working towards becoming citizens, and working? Let me tell you a story: I worked for many years for a local town library that had an excellent English as a Second Language Program. The main issue, however, is that when you are working 2-3 part time jobs, and/or you do not have vacation time or personal time to leave work for a class, it makes it hard to learn English. It is not from a want of wanting to learn. I dare say that immigrants are hard workers, and/or work the jobs that you or I do not want to do, and/or may work jobs that are riskier and/or are taken advantage of on said jobs more than you or I and have inspirations and hopes and dreams just like the rest of us.
For your reading enjoyment: https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/feature/immigrants-are-not-entitled-t...
"People who spend their whole lives on the public dole...I have to assume some are good people who got dealt a bad hand, but it's downright delusional to assume that giving out free shit won't invite a population who are happy to take it since it relieves them of the responsibility of pulling their own weight and modeling good behavior (read: being responsible and pulling your own weight) for their children. Dude who runs down a man in the middle of the street (in his mother's car--why buy your own when you can just have someone else's?) and thinks it's all good...Exhibit A of what can fester in that environment."
And listen grasshopper: Your paragraph, as copied above, is full of judgement and falsehoods. Most people on the "public dole" are good people that have been not as lucky as you or I.
For your reading enjoyment: https://www.creditdonkey.com/welfare-statistics.html
Specifically: " About 31% of people receiving any kind of public assistance stay in the program for a year or less. 43% receive benefits between 3 to 4 years." So, Roman, the majority of folks, per these stats, 74% that are on the "public dole" in some form are not on it for between 1-4 years.
In in regards to using the Mom's car, well, for many years my husband and I did not own a car and would use his father's car or we would rent and/or ride our bikes. We did not own a car because hubby walked to work and I took commuter rail. Nice judgement call there, Dude.
And getting back to Fitts, he was working as a security guard so this tells me that you and your think-along-the-same-line friends that have posted here are either ignoring that fact and making assumptions based on something other than the facts.
I admire your diligence
in writing all of this out, but I've seen precious little to suggest that Roman is capable of parsing this many words on the screen, much less absorbing any opinion counter to his narrative that the world is full of filthy illegals who are somehow preventing him from being the man he was supposed to be.
The Punch Line
Roman is, by his own story here on UHub, one of those many immigrants whose families presented legally at the border and did not have their kids ripped from them, were not forced back to their home countries, and were given money, food stamps, and housing.
Too bad we let an ungrateful entitled sociopath get through our borders as a child.
That's right
We all presented ourselves to the US Embassy, formally asked for permission to immigrate, were interviewed, waited for our papers, and only after we received them did we hop on a plane. And when we hopped off, we availed ourselves of the temporary assistance offered by the US government and by many wonderful private charities to newcomers, and as we did so, all of us of working age started doing just that: working (with authorization) and paying taxes under our own names and not under some social security number we bought off a guy who knew a guy.
Did we miss out? Should we have just showed up at the southern border and asserted a right to step over the line? Maybe it could have been me at the podium of the Democrat convention in 2016 lecturing the lot of youse about how you owe me everything even though we couldn't be assed to follow the rules on day one. Maybe I could have turned that into a nice book deal. Who knows.
What you don't understand
People are having their kids ripped from them now when they LEGALLY present themselves at border crossings to seek asylum.
You aren't special. You are just lucky.
If you're apprehended on US soil
you're apprehended on US soil then you must have crossed illegally to get there. If, on the other hand, you have papers in hand when you cross, then you can't be apprehended since you broke no laws.
You aren't morally superior, nor are you well-informed. You are just smug.
OK, so that means
26% are on it for longer than 1-4 years.
I'll bet you that a good number of the loafers and the malcontents are in that 26%. Good policy will seek to eliminate those people from the welfare roles. That's hard because they don't come with labels that tell you their proclivities. They arise out of an environment that doesn't discourage bad behavior as strongly as it should. So good policy will seek to minimize the size of that environment, not expand it. At the expense of some hurdles for the people who aren't rotten. There's no God's-eye view and there's no perfection in this world.
Where did I say "most" or "all" exactly? I said more than zero. You seem to have heard that as 100%. That's because you didn't listen and/or assumed the worst about me.
I pay
TAXES
I pay taxes for single-occupancy SUVs to have a place to pollute the air and leak poison and kill people, for government-paid weapons and trained personally to murder innocent civilians, and I have no say in the matter.
A small porpoportion of that enabling a loafer means nothing to me.
Go back to your TV.
You seem to know an awful lot
You seem to know an awful lot about this guy's life outside of this incident and the one four years ago. Do you have a source for this information?
Also you seem to be a little unfamiliar with how the American safety net works. Although this man may well get the housing for free or at a substantially reduced cost, there is no program to just give unlimited free money to grown men who don't feel like working.
Really?
And what relevance does this have to the case at hand? You kick my moms dog or mines and I’ll kick your butt too! Y’all sound like Fox News always pulling up irrelevant business and from 4 years ago at that
The relevance
It shows that the peaceful guy who is the good kind of gangsta, might not be so peaceful.
Yeah, the mailman should perhaps not have kicked the dog, but do you really think th proper response was to stomp him? And recall from the post above, the stomping stopped not because some street justice had been served, but because some bystanders pulled him off the mailman.