The following reports were taken from the Boston Police Department’s District 14 (Allston-Brighton) crime logs for the week of Feb. 9 through 16.
Three women, two of whom are confirmed Boston University students, were robbed at gunpoint after walking down Commonwealth Avenue and turning right onto Chester Street in Allston at about 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12.
The three Allston residents told police they were approached from behind by two men, who then pushed them into an alley on Chester Street. The suspects allegedly showed the women “silver” handguns and ordered them to lie on the ground and hand over their wallets and jewelry. They then reportedly told the women to “walk the other way” when they left, and the suspects crossed Chester Street and fled down the alley.
Both suspects are described as 18- to 20-year-old black, non-Hispanic men with medium builds. The women told police one is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and the other is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. They both wore “dark clothing.”
The stolen items included a palm pilot valued at $400, $8 in cash, credit cards, ATM cards, ID cards, keys, two rings valued at $20 and other “personal items.”
MAN WITH THE
SILVER GUN
In a separate incident, another Allston woman was robbed at gunpoint at 2 Ashford Court in Allston at about 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9.
An 18-year-old, 5-foot-9-inch, black, non-Hispanic male wearing a dark “puff” ski jacket, a dark ski hat and other dark clothing allegedly pointed a “silver” handgun at the woman, ordered her to give him her purse, pushed her to the ground, grabbed the purse and fled on foot toward Gardner Street. Another man, described by the victim to police as a six-foot one-inch, 21-year-old, black, non-Hispanic male with a stocky build and wearing a “dark puffy ski jacket” and other dark clothing, was with the gunman at the time of the incident and also fled with him.
The woman’s purse contained money, ATM cards, a driver’s license, a health card and “various personal papers.”
She reportedly suffered “a few scratches on her right elbow” but refused medical treatment.
HIGH SPEED HIJINX
A Boston College student was arrested on a host of traffic violations after leading police on a chase down Commonwealth Avenue and Lake Street at about 1:15 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 12.
Jared Giroux, 21, of 148 Lake Street in Brighton, was charged with failing to stop for police, reckless driving to endanger, speeding and failing to stop for a red light.
Officers doing a traffic stop at Commonwealth Avenue and South Street say they saw a red Dodge sport utility vehicle speeding toward them and “rapidly accelerating outbound on Comm. Ave. … approaching the intersection of Comm. Ave. and Lake Street.”
The officers’ cruiser caught up to the SUV at the intersection and they reportedly saw Giroux and the three passengers in the SUV look back at the cruiser, which had its lights and siren activated. Giroux then allegedly turned right on Lake Street after failing to stop at a red light and “made a very wide turn, almost colliding with cars parked on the left side of Lake Street and [the SUV] rocked from side-to-side as it accelerated away from the police vehicle.”
Giroux reportedly accelerated to over 60 mph on Lake Street, which officers described as a “one-way, single-lane road with many twists and turns through a residential neighborhood.” They said the street is also “a major thoroughfare for pedestrian traffic” and often has “large patches of ice” during the winter. Giroux then reportedly “came abruptly to a stop in front of 126 Lake St., on a steep hill” and officers took him into custody.
The vehicle was “secured at the scene by the owner, Joseph Swenson, who was an occupant of the vehicle.” The vehicle is registered in South Dakota.
All four people in the vehicle are roommates and Boston College students. No one else was arrested.
PARTY TIME!
Officers seized numerous substances suspected to be drugs, several firearms and other items at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10, after obtaining a search warrant for 55 Faneuil St., apartment 177 in Brighton, where they made three arrests earlier in the day.
While police were arresting Jose Rodriguez, 23, whole lived in the above residence, on numerous outstanding warrants dating back to 1997, they “observed what appeared to be a firearm” in a boot on the floor. Police took Rodriguez to be booked, left the boot and firearm where they found it and “froze” the apartment until obtaining a search warrant later in the day.
Once they obtained the warrant, members of the Youth Violence Strike Force, the United States Marshal’s Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms searched the apartment and reportedly found at least two handguns, several rounds of ammunition, “28 glassine bags of a white powder believed to be heroin,” some “green herb substance believed to be marijuana,” “a white rock substance believed to be crack cocaine,” “one prescription bottle containing white and blue pills, recovered inside a baseboard radiator,” two cellular phones, four men’s rings, a wallet containing $610 in cash, photographs, video tapes and “personal papers,” among other things. All of the drug evidence was “logged” at District 14. The ballistic evidence was also logged and will be forwarded to the ballistics unit, and the money was logged into Boston Police Headquarters.