BOSTON, August 19, 2015— A Dorchester woman who allegedly struck three officers with a car while fleeing the scene of an apparent drug transaction was arraigned this week on firearm and other charges, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

SAMARA FIGUEROA (D.O.B. 10/28/78) was arraigned Monday in Roxbury Municipal Court on three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and single counts of trafficking cocaine, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, carrying a loaded firearm, possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop for police, and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.  Her co-defendant, JUAN ORTIZ (D.O.B. 11/30/92) of Salem, was arraigned on charges of possession with intent to distribute a Class B substance.

Assistant District Attorney Caitlin Fitzgerald requested that Figueroa be held on $100,000 bail; Judge David Poole set $10,000 bail for Figueroa and $1,000 for Ortiz.   He also granted motions to revoke each defendants bail on open cases – Figueroa in a June case charging larceny from a building and Ortiz in a February case charging unlawful possession of a firearm.  In the event either is released on bail, they must abide by a curfew, stay away from the area surrounding the location of their arrests, wear a GPS monitor, and stay away from one another.

According to prosecutors, Boston Police officers observed Ortiz, whom they knew from prior interactions, as he leaned the upper half of his body into a vehicle parked in the area of Walnut and Humboldt avenues shortly after 11:00 p.m. Saturday.  Based on their training and experience, officers believed they had observed Ortiz take part in a drug transaction inside the vehicle and approached him on foot.

Officers stopped Ortiz in the area of Bower Street.  A plastic baggie that was sticking out of his pants pocket was found to contain oxycodone pills, prosecutors said.  He also had $320 in cash.

Three additional officers then approached the vehicle Ortiz had been seen leaning into.  After officers knocked on the window and announced that they were Boston Police, the vehicle’s driver, later identified as Figueroa, refused to lower the car’s window and then sped away.  As she did so she struck all three officers in the arms and legs with the front and sides of the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Officers located the vehicle stopped in traffic on Sonoma Street, where Figueroa again refused to lower the window and drove the wrong way down Maple Street.  She then abandoned the vehicle on Georgia Street and fled on foot.  She was later located in the area of Egleston Square and placed under arrest.

Located near the abandoned car was a bag containing 36 individually wrapped baggies of crack cocaine weighing a total of 18 grams, prosecutors said.  Officers discovered a loaded Kel Tec 9mm Luger firearm along the vehicle’s path of flight; it was loaded with seven live rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one in the chamber.  A wallet containing Ortiz’s license was found inside Figueroa’s purse, prosecutors said.

Figueroa and Ortiz are scheduled to appear in the Suffolk County Gun Court on Sept. 17.

–30–

All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.