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3 men charged with kidnapping, assaulting 14-year-old on Orange Line train
Video surveillance showed the three men forcing the boy back on a train car, with one gesturing as if he had a weapon.
Three men are facing kidnapping and robbery charges after they allegedly assaulted a 14-year-old on an MBTA train and took his cell phone earlier this month, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said.
Michael Cole, 23, of Boston; Derrick Eures, 25, of Dedham; and Nathan Moorewhite Jr., 19, of Dorchester, were charged with kidnapping, armed and masked robbery, and disorderly conduct on public conveyance in Boston Municipal Court’s Roxbury division Monday, according to the DA’s office.
The afternoon of March 7, three juveniles told MBTA Transit Police at Forest Hills Station that their friend had been robbed while on an Orange Line train.
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The juveniles said they boarded the train at Roxbury Crossing Station headed towards Forest Hills Station when three adult males wearing black face masks started harassing them and threatening to beat them up, according to the DA’s office.
When the juveniles tried to exit the train at the next stop, two of the men grabbed the victim by his backpack, pulling him back onto the train car and slamming him into the door on the opposite side. The victim told investigators that one of the men gestured as if he had a weapon while the other two assaulted him and took his phone, removing his phone case and handing him his CharlieCard, the DA’s office said.
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Video surveillance footage showed one of the men approaching the juveniles and the other two forcing the victim back on the train, according to the DA’s office. In the footage, the first man can be seen placing his hand inside his sweatshirt pocket and extending his hand, pressing it against the victim’s abdomen, prosecutors said.
The victim exited the train at Stony Brook Station and contacted his friends, telling them the three men stole his phone. His friends encouraged him to meet them at Forest Hills Station and report the incident to police, but the victim instead went home.
At about 7:05 p.m., transit police observed three males who matched the men in the surveillance video and descriptions given by witnesses. The three men, Cole, Eures, and Moorewhite, were all placed under arrest, according to the DA’s office.
Investigators recovered the victim’s phone from Moorewhite’s possession, according to prosecutors. They also learned that Cole had an outstanding warrant out of Boston Municipal Court’s Central division, the DA’s office said.
The three men were ordered held without bail until a dangerousness hearing March 13, where they were found dangerous and released to home confinement with GPS monitoring, the DA’s office said. They are scheduled to return to court May 20 for probable cause hearings.
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“All forms of bullying and violence are intolerable, but this conduct toward a 14-year-old boy is particularly deplorable,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “All our residents deserve to go about their daily lives safely, peacefully and without fear of harassment or violence.”
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