The following reports were taken from the Boston Police Department’s District 14 (Allston-Brighton) crime logs for the week of Feb. 22 through Feb. 29.
A Cambridge man was arrested for allegedly trafficking more than 100 grams of cocaine and numerous other drugs within 1,000 feet of a school zone at about 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 24, and an Allston man was arrested for allegedly receiving some of the drugs.
Police approached a vehicle driven by Vincent Crawford, 39, of 70 Bishop Allen Drive in Cambridge, on Gardner Street, after reportedly observing it on Linden Street traveling “in an unsafe and improper manner.” Through the tinted windows, officers saw at least three people in the car and decided to follow it across Brighton Avenue to Gardner Street “due to a rash of armed robberies committed in the area, some of which were committed by as many as three to four males with a getaway car.”
After the car idled in a no-stopping zone near Gardner and Chester streets for a few minutes, officers turned on their lights and sirens to investigate for “previous motor vehicle offenses.” As they approached the car, officers reportedly saw Crawford pass “an item” to Steven Libman, 21, of 54 Gardner St. in Allston, who was sitting in the front seat. When Crawford saw the officers, he allegedly “fumbled with an object in his hand, which he eventually dropped into the console of the motor vehicle.” Meanwhile, Libman allegedly placed the item he had received in his right pants pocket.
After officers removed Libman and the third occupant of the car, they reportedly noticed a “shiny silver object in the console,” which they had seen Crawford handle. Officers removed Crawford from the car and retrieved the object, which appeared to be “some type of jewelry holder,” which contained “several bags of a white rock and powder substance, believed to be … crack cocaine, which was packaged in a manner consistent with the intent to distribute.” The case also contained several pills, which officers reportedly believed to be illegal drugs.
Officers “conducted a pat frisk” on Libman and found “one plastic bag of white powder believed to be cocaine” in his right pant pocket.
Officers searched Crawford’s vehicle and found “a leather pouch” with several “packages of white rock and powder substance believed to cocaine stuffed inside,” more pills, including some marked “Viagra,” and numerous $1 and $20 bills “with a white powder wrapped inside that was believed to be … cocaine.” They also removed “a Louis Vuitton pocket book, a brand new suede coat with fur lining, a black leather coat, a car stereo and four cell phones.”
Before Crawford got into the police car, officers found “two bags of green leaf vegetable matter believed to be marijuana” and half of a marijuana cigarette in his sock. During booking, officers found another marijuana cigarette, “one plastic bag with a white powder inside believed to be … cocaine,” four pills believed to be illegal drugs, a $20 bill believed to have cocaine wrapped inside it and $2,568 in cash.
After police read him his Miranda rights, Libman reportedly said Crawford gave him the drugs for free so he could “sample them and eventually begin to sell the drugs for Crawford.” He was also charged with drug trafficking and police seized the $90 in his possession.
The third occupant of the car was not charged and was released because police did not see him involved in the transaction and he did not have any drugs in his possession.
THE PRICE “TAG” OF CRIME
Two Boston University students were arrested for “tagging,” or spray painting graffiti, on a vacant building at 76 Brighton Ave. in Allston, at about 3:25 a.m. on Feb. 29.
Officers patrolling the area near Brighton Avenue and Linden Street reportedly saw Zachary Gajewski, 19, of 140 Bay State Road – The Towers residence hall – and Jeffrey Harder, 19, of 862 Beacon St., “exit the alley in the rear of Spike Dogs … at 120 Brighton Ave.” and Gajewski was allegedly seen “placing an unknown object inside of his jacket.” According to the incident report, vandals often “tag” buildings in the area, and a group called the Boston Urban Beautification Project recently posted notices in the area “encouraging graffiti vandals to victimize as many places as they felt necessary.”
Officers reportedly followed the suspects to 76 Brighton Ave., where Gajewski allegedly “[removed] the unknown object and began to rapidly shake the object.” One officer reported the shaking sounded like that of a can of spray paint.
While Gajewski was shaking the object, Harder was allegedly “nervously looking up and down Brighton Avenue, acting as a lookout” for Gajewski. Gajewski reportedly spray painted “MR.” on the building before both he and Harder were arrested.
Officers took the can of red spray paint into evidence and both Gajewski and Harder were charged with “defacement or tagging of property.”
A RUSH TO THE HEAD
Raymond Hannigan, 50, of 15 Greymere Road in Brighton, was arrested for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school and Thomas Walsh, 42, of 579 Ferry Road in Saco, Maine was arrested for purchasing them at about 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 24.
Officers had been “conducting an investigation” of Hannigan after receiving information that he was selling OxyContin. Officers reportedly followed Hannigan from his home to the Hess gas station at the corner of Cambridge and North Harvard streets, where he parked his car and walked over to Walsh, who was pumping gas into his vehicle. Officers reportedly observed Hannigan hand Walsh an “item” in return for cash, after which both men got back into their cars and drove away.
Officers stopped Walsh just after he left the gas station and he “turned over four green pills marked ‘OC’ on one side and ’80’ on the other” side, which he reportedly told officers were OxyContin. Other officers had followed Hannigan to his residence and arrested him after finding “eight yellow pills marked ‘OC’ on one side, ’40’ on the other,” believed to be OxyContin, as well as a large amount of “green herb believed to be marijuana,” $400 in cash and a cell phone.
After Hannigan was arrested, officers reportedly considered freezing his apartment until they could obtain a search warrant. They spoke to Hannigan’s son, who said his parents were divorced but his father lived in the basement apartment of his mother’s house at 15 Greymere Road. The son called his mother, who came home and told police Hannigan did not live there or pay rent, and she planned to clean out all of his belongings from the basement, which officers confirmed she could do because she is the owner of the house.
At about 9 p.m. that night, Hannigan’s ex-wife called police back to the scene after finding “13 green pills marked ’80/OC.'” Officers seized the pills for further analysis.