Latest news with #MassachusettsStatePolice
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Massachusetts man sentenced to 26 months for attacking a flight attendant with a broken spoon
FILE - The John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse is shown on Sept. 27, 2024 in Boston. Steve LeBlanc/AP FILE - This booking photo provided by Massachusetts State Police on March 7, 2023, shows Francisco Severo Torres. (Massachusetts State Police via AP, File) AP BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts man was sentenced Tuesday to 26 months in prison for attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon and trying to open an airliner's emergency door on a cross-country flight. Francisco Severo Torres, of Leominster, pleaded guilty in May to one count of interference and attempted interference with flight crew members and attendants using a dangerous weapon in the March 2023 disturbance on United Airlines Flight 2609 from Los Angeles to Boston. U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris sentenced Torres to time served, which was just over 2 years. He also will be on supervised release for five years, during which he is prohibited from flying on a commercial aircraft. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to prosecutor and witness accounts, Torres went on a midair rant and tried to stab a crew member with a modified metal spoon. The plane was about 45 minutes from Boston when the crew received an alarm that a side door on the aircraft was disarmed, according to court documents. One flight attendant noticed the door's locking handle had been moved. Another saw Torres near the door and believed he had moved the handle. Cabin pressure during flight prevents airplane doors from opening. Torres started loudly rambling that his father was Dracula, that he wanted to be shot so he could be reincarnated and that he would kill everyone on board, one passenger said. He punched a male flight attendant, who felt the metal spoon in Torres' hand hit him on his shirt collar and tie three times, according to court documents. No one was injured. Torres was eventually subdued and restrained by other passengers. He was arrested when the flight landed at Boston Logan International Airport, authorities said. A lawyer for Torres could not be reached for comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Torres has spent time in mental health facilities, according to court records. The police chief in his hometown said officers have dealt with him several times since 2014, mostly over family issues and mental health episodes. During one court appearance after his arrest, a federal judge ruled that Torres was not competent to stand trial and that he needed additional treatment. Magistrate Judge Judith Dein based her decision on a mental health evaluation of Torres and her own observations.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Karen Read wants her Lexus that was at the center of her murder trial back
A month after being acquitted of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, Karen Read is asking a judge to force prosecutors to return two key pieces of evidence from the case: her Lexus SUV and her cellphone. In a motion filed Monday in Norfolk Superior Court, Read's defense team requested the immediate return of her 2021 Lexus LX 570 and personal phone, both of which were seized by investigators during the murder investigation. Read, 45, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly striking O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die outside a friend's house in January 2022. Last month, she was found not guilty on all major charges, including murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene. The jury did, however, convict her on a lesser charge of operating under the influence. In the filing, her defense team attempted to negotiate with Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally for the release of the property in late June, shortly after Read's acquittal, but never received a response, they claimed. They say both items remain in the custody of Massachusetts State Police and should be returned 'immediately.' Read's Lexus played a central role in the prosecution's case, which hinged on the theory that she backed into O'Keefe with the vehicle, shattering a taillight in the process. Throughout the trial, prosecutors focused on forensic evidence, including broken taillight fragments and digital data extracted from the Lexus and O'Keefe's phone. One prosecution expert, Grant Welcher, analyzed time-stamped data from a secure digital card inside the SUV's control module. He testified that Read's Lexus made a three-point turn and then reversed more than 50 feet, just minutes after O'Keefe was dropped off. Welcher claimed the SUV accelerated in reverse at roughly three-quarters throttle. To bolster the theory, Welcher also conducted a reenactment using a similar vehicle. He demonstrated how blue paint from the taillight transferred to his arm, matching the pattern of O'Keefe's injuries. Still, he acknowledged that small changes in a pedestrian's position could significantly alter the outcome. In the end prosecutors also struggled to demonstrate that O'Keefe's injuries were consistent with being struck by a vehicle. They acknowledged not knowing how he was hit, and an accident reconstruction video they produced was panned by the defense since no one knows where he would have been standing. Meanwhile crash reconstruction experts testified for the defense that O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with being hit by a large vehicle. Instead, the defense argued, O'Keefe was beaten up at the party. Read's cellphone was also used to gather data and map out her movements the night O'Keefe died. During the trial, the defense questioned friend Jennifer McCabe about her misspelled web search: 'hos long to die in cold.' The defense argued that McCabe searched the words just before 2:30 a.m., but prosecutors said it was after O'Keefe was found at Read's request. McCabe was also asked why she never went in the house after finding the body, suggesting that she already knew they were safe inside. No one from the home came outside as police and paramedics gathered. The defense did not prove that someone else killed O'Keefe, but it was apparently able to create enough reasonable doubt for jurors. With the trial now over, Read's legal team says it's time for her property to be returned.
CBS News
4 days ago
- CBS News
Massachusetts State Police trooper still in ICU 33 days after he was nearly killed in Revere hit-and-run
A Massachusetts State Police station commander is still in intensive care, more than a month after he was nearly killed in a hit-and-run outside of the Revere Barracks. Lieutenant Donald Bossi was struck by a stolen motorcycle in front of the barracks on Revere Beach Boulevard back on June 23. He was thrown 40 feet down the street. Investigators said 18-year-old Akram El Moukhtari of Revere hit Bossi, got off the motorcycle and ran away. He turned himself in to police later that night. Bossi was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in critical condition. El Moukhtari hid in court the next day as he pleaded not guilty to several charges at his arraignment. He's been held since then on $50,000 cash bail. He was brought back to court Friday to face an additional charge of illegal possession of ammunition, after police said they found 100 rounds of ammunition in his bedroom during a search after his arrest. During the arraignment, prosecutor John Verner had an update on Bossi's condition. "He suffered catastrophic injuries, 33 days and counting in the ICU with no end in sight, potentially two more months in the hospital. He's been battling infections, kidney problems, internal organ problems, his pelvis was broken. Just really, really bad injuries," Verner said Friday. "It's a miracle Lt. Bossi is still with us." The judge ordered $3,500 to be added to the original $50,000 cash bail, based on the new ammunition charge. "It's a bail that his family can't make," El Moukhtari's attorney said of the new $53,500 total. El Moukhtari's next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 22 via Zoom.
Boston Globe
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
State Police train higher education leaders to combat hate, promote positive campus culture
The training came as colleges across Massachusetts will welcome students back to campus in the fall from all over the world. International students It also comes after a couple of years of unrest on public and private university campuses. Advertisement Protests over the Israel-Gaza war, and in some cases, pro-Palestinian The training was designed to deepen 'understanding of hate crimes, bias incidents, harassment, vandalism, direct threats, and conflict,' with an eye toward prevention and appropriate response, a State Police said in a statement Monday. Gov. Maura Healey said she is grateful for the leadership of the Massachusetts State Police to enhance public safety on campuses, prevent hate and build a positive environment for everyone.' Healey's administration has awarded $24.5 million in hate crime prevention grants through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the statement said. Advertisement The grants are to support or expand programs that help campuses 'reduce incidents of bias in schools,' according to the statement. The State Police program was designed with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and Rutgers University Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience. The training addressed intimidation, terroristic threats, harassment, and violence toward students and faculty, and ensured that institutions understand their legal reporting responsibilities under federal law, according to the statement. The programs also provided tools for formulating strategies to protect victims from vulnerable communities along with prevention measures for achieving and maintaining a 'positive campus culture,' according to the State Police. Stacey Lloyd, chief of police and director of public safety at the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts, said involvement in the initiative 'means actively contributing to a culture of trust, safety, and mutual respect, which is essential for promoting an inclusive and secure environment on campuses.' Tonya Alanez can be reached at
CBS News
15-07-2025
- CBS News
Police investigating 4-year-old's drowning in Brockton, Massachusetts pool
Massachusetts State Police are investigating after a 4-year-old died after being pulled from the pool of a Brockton home over the weekend. It happened Sunday afternoon around 3 p.m. at a home on Sunset Ave. A Brockton police officer attempted life-saving measures on the child after they were pulled from the pool. The 4-year-old, who has since been identified as Hendrix Cooley-Walker, was then rushed to a hospital in Brockton. "We thank all the first responders for their swift action and ask the public to keep the child and their family in their thoughts," Brockton Police said in a statement on Sunday after the incident. According to the Plymouth County District Attorney, Cooley-Walker died around 1:30 a.m. Monday morning at the hospital. "The Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney's office started an investigation into the circumstances which led to this fatal drowning incident following the child's death. The investigation is ongoing," the DA's office said in a statement. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning is the leading cause of death for children one to four years old in the United States. One neighbor who was outside gardening at the time the child was pulled from the pool. "I just heard a 911 call from somewhere down the street, and then a cop car came racing down the neighborhood and made a left there. We all gathered, and they told us to stay out of the street," the neighbor said. No additional details about how Cooley-Walker drowned are currently available.
