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MIT attempted bike theft suspect jumped in Charles to escape, police say
Michael Stockwell pleaded not guilty after police arrested him for allegedly trying to break into a bike cage.
A man accused of trying to break into a bike cage at MIT allegedly fled police by swimming across the Charles River from Cambridge to Boston early Friday morning.
Police arrested Michael Stockwell following the incident, which began around 3 a.m. when MIT police say they spotted a man allegedly trying to break into a locked bicycle cage.
NBC Boston reported that when officers confronted Stockwell near the bike cage, he began struggling with an officer and then damaged a cruiser as he took off on a motorcycle.
Officers lost sight of him, but heard a person swimming in the water of the Charles, according to officials. Police located him on the grass near the river’s shore and took him into custody.
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According to a Boston 25 News report, the incident unfolded after state police were called to help MIT and Cambridge police locate a suspect who had been breaking into campus dorms.
Later Friday, Stockwell pleaded not guilty to several charges, including malicious destruction of property and trespassing, according to the NBC report.
His court-appointed lawyer said Stockwell was smoking a cigarette and trying to get a bottle of water out from under the bike cage when police approached him.
“He did panic when the police came, made some bad decisions, put his life at risk swimming across the Charles River,” Stockwell’s lawyer said, according to the report.
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Stockwell was ordered to be held on $500 cash bail and must stay away from MIT property upon release. He’s due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 12.
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