BOSTON, Jan. 5, 2015—An off-duty Boston Police officer was arraigned today for allegedly assaulting a man after using ethnic slurs against him, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
MICHAEL DOHERTY (D.O.B. 11/7/74) of South Boston was arraigned in South Boston Municipal Court on two counts each of assault and battery and violating his victims’ civil rights and a single count each of assault and use of a motor vehicle without authority.
At the request of Assistant District Attorney William Champlin, Judge Michael Bolden set Doherty’s bail at $500 and ordered Doherty to stay away and have no contact with the victims, not use Uber, submit to alcohol and drug evaluations, and undergo any treatment deemed necessary.
Also at Champlin’s request, Bolden granted a protective order to keep the victim’s identifying information confidential.
Champlin told the court that the victim, an adult male Uber driver, had driven Doherty from Charlestown to an address on East 2nd Street at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday. However, when they arrived at the location, Doherty allegedly told the driver they were in the wrong location and called him a racial epithet, prosecutors said. Doherty allegedly began hitting the victim, who exited the vehicle in the area of East 2nd and M streets to escape the assault; Doherty then exited and chased the man around the vehicle.
As the victim flagged down a passing motorist for help, Doherty entered the victim’s 2005 Toyota Prius and drove away, prosecutors said. The victim entered the other motorist’s vehicle and the two men followed the Doherty until he stopped and exited the vehicle at East 1st Street and Farragut Road. There, Doherty allegedly approached both men and used another racial epithet against the second man. He knocked the Uber driver the ground and began hitting him; after the second victim came to the man’s aid, the three men became involved in a physical struggle that ended when Doherty observed the lights of an approaching police vehicle and walked away. MassPort Police who initially arrived on scene searched the area were unable to locate Doherty.
Doherty, who was identified through his credit card information on file with Uber, surrendered himself to Boston Police yesterday.
Doherty is represented by Kenneth Anderson. He will return to court March 2.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
