Hey, there! Log in / Register
Man charged with Downtown Crossing mugging
By adamg on Tue, 10/21/2014 - 11:49am
Boston Police report arresting a man they say robbed a woman at Tremont and Winter streets around 6:40 p.m. - just two hours after an armed robbery a couple blocks away.
Police say officers on a drug investigation heard a woman screaming she'd just been robbed.
As officers turned toward the victim, they observed a white male running in a full sprint down Winter Street toward Washington Street. Officers immediately gave chase eventually catching up to the suspect in the area of 12 Winter Street. Following a brief struggle, the suspect was placed under arrest. Officers were able to recover all of the victim’s property that had been stolen.
Scott Smith, 41, was charged with unarmed robbery, assault and battery on a police officer causing injuries and resisting arrest.
Innocent, etc.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
WTF Boston?
The DTX bike robbery was surprising, but not unfathomable considering the construction mess/noise right there, the area's reputation, and the fact that these bicycle gangs already no longer surprise us. But pulling this off across from Park Street Station just after rush hour? This guy has some stones, both down low and up top. And all of this just days removed from 2 park rangers being stabbed in the middle of Boston Common. I'm glad they at least caught him, I worry that the more people get away with stuff like this, more will try to do it themselves.
I've always been one of those "We live in a major city, shit happens" kind of people, but the past few months have been beyond ridiculous.
The fact that your surprised
The fact that your surprised at these actions are taking place in #DTX says you haven't been to the area at all. The amount of scum that hangs out between Park St and Downtown Crossing could easily full a local crime blotter. How the City and developers think they can obtain high dollar for rent and condos in that area without first cleaning it up of beyond my comprehension.
The only thing that surprises
The only thing that surprises me is that at the absolute *center* of a major American city, where all four rapid transit lines converge, people expect the experience to be like they were in Chestnut Hill.
Given the literally hundreds of thousands of people that traverse the area daily there is very little violent crime.
Plenty of people, like me, are voting with their mortgages, condo prices in the area rising steadily in spite of explosive development.
Stay tuned ...
Never said
I was surprised that they were happening there. I actually walk through there quite often in lieu of backtracking to the Blue Line on the T, and am well aware of what a sad place that whole part of the city is. But these are pretty bold even for down there in broad daylight. Maybe not a snatch and grab, but definitely the alleged bike robbery earlier in the evening and the ranger thing.
Also, this was the article I commented on, but talking about the city as a whole. As I said, I generally have the whole "it's a city" attitude, but I feel like I'm hearing about more violent or odd crime than usual lately, with DoT and Eastie being especially stabby, and these kids on bikes harassing people in the Back Bay, Allston, and even Brookline.
You clearly don't realize
You clearly don't realize what happens there in broad daylight then. Two weeks ago I watched a guy buy a gun on Tremont near the Park St T stop. The only reason I didn't report it is because the guys saw me staring at them and I ran off before I could look at them enough to give a description worth noting. I felt it was probably not wise to upset someone who was clearly now in the possession of a new firearm. It was 4:30pm on a Tuesday. DTX/ the Park Street area has never been a very nice place to hang out. It's Downtown Crossing, not Downton Abbey.
Apparently
The people who commented below and work in the area don't either.
The tl;dr version of this thread:
Commenter group A: Man, this area that is normally pretty bad seems to be seeing an uptick in crime lately, and to a greater extreme.
Commenter group B: Shut up, you clearly don't know how hard this city is, and I'll have you know that I do! This isn't any place but here!
I love the uHub comment threads.
I didn't mean for my response
I didn't mean for my response to come off as harsh. I apologize for that.
That being said--these types of crimes happening downtown are not that bold. The bike thing is just a different mode of transportation for muggings that have been happening downtown with decreasing frequency, to be honest (see BPD crime stats link below--robbery and burglary are both down this year in District A-1). Before the bike thing, there was the "mob attack" group who would swarm a victim and rob him/her Downtown in the evenings, usually in the Financial District or nearer DTX just past rush hour. I can probably dig up the emails about those repeated robberies that we received from BPD at my office warning us about traveling on foot alone after 5 or 6pm.
It's not that it's getting worse in DTX. The thing that is outrageous is that it isn't getting much better, despite the fact that certain people/groups are eager to tout Downtown Crossing as the new "it" neighborhood because a couple of luxury buildings are being erected.
http://static.squarespace.com/static/5086f19ce4b0ad16ff15598d/t/544694fd...
Fair enough
I admittedly did forget about the mob thing, though I stopped using Bromfield street for a while when the one there happened, and already refuse to use Winter or the stretch of Washington between the 2 at night.
I think it's amplified because 2 incidents in 1 day on the heels of the stabbing makes it seem so. I also think that an increase in crime in a crime ridden area lends itself to these types of debates. And, without getting into a discussion about social issues, the closure of Long Island is going to make it worse one way or another, because the current state of the "neighborhood" invites it.
Back to the original comment, I'm still talking about Boston as a whole, this post just triggered the comment. It just seems like there is a lot more "happening" as of late, everywhere from downtown to individual neighborhoods, and not a lot being done about it.
I work not two blocks from
I work not two blocks from DTX, and I'm surprised. To my perception, it has definitely gotten worse lately.
I also work right in Downtown
I also work right in Downtown Crossing and I've noticed more sketchy activity the past few weeks. I walked up Tremont St towards North Station last night and it's really sad how many more homeless people are out. (But perhaps I just notice more people since the Long Island shelter closed?)
Definitely since Long Island closed
I went out a few nights after and stopped by the 7-11 on Washington across from the big Walgreens, and there were significantly more people hanging out in front and in the park across the street asking for change than usual. Though strangely enough, I cut up to Tremont to get to Park, and there wasn't a soul in front of that 7-11. With more people out there that are desperate for food, shelter, drugs, etc. and have nothing to lose, it's bound to happen.
I think we're going to see a lot more of this with the shelter closed as the weather gets colder and people get even more desperate. It's really sad to see, because for many who have nowhere else to go, it was at leastsomething. Dig had a really good article about this back in August.
It is worth noting though that the mugging at Bromfield and Franklin seems like a straight up armed robbery that has nothing to do with homelessness.
I work in DTX too
I work in DTX too. Its gotten real bad lately. So many obvious junkies. We've had discussion at lunch at my work with coworkers about being in the office late at night and walking to the subway along summer and it just being terrible.
On Fridays, I patronize a (gay) bar near State Street. Last friday after I left the bar, I had to go back to my work to pick up my bag... I hadn't walked much further than Walgreens that late at night in a long time.. and my gosh.
So many homeless people, and many obvious junkies. I saw two different people in 'mid-smoke'. Cig in mouth, lighter in hand, but totally passed out like they were at the holiday inn sleeping soundly.
Its so sad.. it really has gotten worse in recent months
The other area that I've
The other area that I've noticed going really downhill is the BMC area. I saw way more obviously strung out people and hypodermic syringes out on the street. I used to work on Harrison and it's one more reason I'm glad I don't have to deal with that neighborhood anymore. Such a mess.
Tufts Medical Center bad too
At night around the orange line station and hospital across the street. Look like junkies.
Fact.
I was out for a friend's birthday Sat and that was the closest station. I backtracked from Back Bay Station to avoid it.
Tufts South Cove station
is beautiful, seriously. That station isn't dangerous at all. I myself avoid Back Bay station like the plague, it's far more irritating and sketchy than Tufts.
Fun fact:
Tufts / New England Medical station was actually built by 1968 when the T / state ran out of $ for the 'new' orange line, so it sat vacant,unused for close to 20 years before the new orange line opened in 1986.
Epidemic
ANYONE who is downtown daily sees what I see. There is a giant drug epidemic taking over. There's a generation of young people addicted to heroin, meth, pills etc and they are everywhere.
It IS dangerous. It isn't really, "don't come here, you'll be killed" dangerous but it's opportunistic dangerous.
If you walk alone at night you set yourself up as a target. If you flash money or stare too long at a bad person you're taking a chance. It's not like the old Times Square days in NYC but there are way more scumbags looking for trouble and it all revolves around drugs.
And it won't change unless everyone starts dialing 911 every single time we see something bad happening.
I'm guilty of it too. You become desensitized to the losers and the bullshit. If we demand that the police and the local pols do something about it then eventually they will. The 911 callls become statistics thy will use to show a trend then people like Rosemarie Sansone of the Downtown Crossing Business Improvement District won't be able to keep calling downtown the next Disneyland until they take steps to make it one. (like Times Square)
Times Square may be horrible to some people but before Rudy G was elected it was peep shows, drugs and danger everywhere. We need to make sure DTX doesn't go down that road.
One thing would be for stores
One thing would be for stores to not allow loitering out front. Sunday, there were three 30-ish guys outside of 7 eleven. One had a blanket around himself, the other was milling about asking people for cigarettes, and on the phone. When person being called must have answered, one of the guys grabbed for the phone to yell at whoever was on the other side. They weren't doing anything that could clearly initiate a call to 911 from the average person walking by, but maybe the shopkeeper could if they continued to loiter.
Direct result of the increase
Direct result of the increase of drug addicted population desperate to rob anything .
Hey Adam,
Hey Adam,
Do we have any evidence that this
http://www.universalhub.com/crime/20141020/guys-bicycles-sought-downtown...
happened other than some chick's single tweet?
-C
Yes
I heard about it from another witness and turned on my scanner in time to hear the repeated and updated descriptions on the suspects from officers at the scene.
awesome, thanks.
awesome, thanks.
Police Detail
What really gets me ... and I hate to be 'that guy' but..
The old filene's tower always has cops around it, how come no one saw this? I thought this was the whole argument about having cops as flaggers/details. To keep them 'on foot'.
Apparently it's not working...
For this crime
The detail wouldn't have done better than what happened.
Okay, so I'm assuming that this began by the Bank of America at the closest point to the Filenes (former) Hole. I'll also assume that the cop was checking out drug activity on Tremont. He basically chased the alleged perp down Winter, getting his man before the detail cops would get involved.
Now, if the drug cop wasn't around, hopefully the duty cops would have been able to do something. Assuming some member of the public or the victim chased the suspect.
That's my 2 cents, and if you disagree, sure, feel free to point out how many times I use the word "assume."
I saw this happen
I was coming out of the Capital One 360, headed to Downtown Crossing T station. Saw the guy running up Winter toward DTX from Park Street, heard a bunch of people screaming that he stole a wallet, some bystanders chased him but didn't get to him, a plainclothes officer ran after him radioing something about a robbery suspect. A uniformed officer on foot came the other direction. The guy threw the wallet before getting apprehended by the uniformed officer. Both cops took him down, the woman got her wallet back, then a squad car arrived.
You know what would make
You know what would make Downtown Crossing even more sketch???? Legalizing pot! Feel free to have at me for my comment!
Agreed
But it doesn't need to be made legal. Decriminalizing it has made the area a place for pot smoking with impunity all day.
Sure
Feel free to prove it.
Also, why should cops be wasting their time on people for weed when there are clearly far more pressing and important things to worry about than people using substances that make them docile?
not all pot heads piss glitter and sing Kumbaya
Pot doesn't make all users docile. You are incorrect on this matter swrrly. It depends on the person. Everyone reacts differently. Case in point: a friend of mine had a live-in boyfriend who used to smack her (and their dog) around repeatedly when he was stoned... he was of the wake and bake variety. She finally saved up enough money to move out of state to escape his abuse.
And, swrrls, If you're going to accuse me of conjuring up an anecdote, screw you in advance.
Police?
This is happening because these thugs know there is basically no police presence in the area.
Sure, there might be a cop or two hanging around a construction site, but for the most part I rarely feel like there is a police presence as there would be in a city with the equivalent population and number of recent crimes.
Did you miss the part
where the guy was arrested. By a policeman. Who was present. There?
Never a nice place to hang out?
Prior to say 10 years ago it was an awesome place. All the stores that have gone over the past 10 years, the 2008 - present? financial collapse, The Hole, the huge problem we have with drug addiction, homeless, all the 'youth' who converge on there due to the crossover between the orange and redline, to say it's gone downhill would be an understatement. It's like the city has deliberately allowed it. And since developers own our low hanging fruit politicians, just follow the $ trail. It's amazing that such a situation, the heart of tourist Boston, only blocks from the state house and city hall, is allowed and has been festering for at least the past decade.
But Boston's problem is relatively tame compared to some comparable cities like San Francisco. You want to see how bad it can get, go to San Francisco.
DTX def has some bad eggs
DTX def has some bad eggs around. I wish the police would
Raid the place..
No more money to addicts
As part of the answer how about a campaign to stop giving money to anyone on the street and instead give to transitional programs.?
San Fran market st. area only place with as many losers as area from south end to north Station. Boston worse than Seattle and Portland Oreg in my experience.
Downtown
I don't know if everyone posting here is from the suburbs or something, but I do not understand this whole "scared of downtown" concept. Has anyone here been to anywhere else in the city? I do not avoid streets in downtown, nor do I avoid streets anywhere else in the city. Anything can happen anywhere.
"Fear of Downtown"
Is a thing out my way and has been so for decades.
It's the unknown, suddenly being surrounded by odd people. Sure, even suburbs have their nuts, but they do tend to be concentrated in city centers.
I don't know if it is the time period when I grew up, but I was more afraid of places as an 18 year old than I am not that I am in my 40s.