MBTA police officer who allegedly attacked passenger with baton, pepper spray loses job
A transit police official says the termination was unrelated to a civil rights suit over the alleged attack.
A transit officer accused of attacking a Boston woman with a baton and pepper spray in 2014 has lost her job with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s police force.
Jennifer Amyot-Garvey, who is at the center of a civil rights lawsuit stemming from the incident, had her employment terminated on December 28, said Transit Police Superintendent-in-Chief Richard Sullivan. He declined to say why she was let go, or otherwise detail the circumstances of the move, except to say it was unrelated to the civil rights suit. “It was another issue,’’ he said.
The suit was filed in August by Boston resident Mary Holmes, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Holmes said Garvey and her partner, Alfred Trinh, attacked and falsely arrested her at the Dudley Square bus station in March 2014. Trinh remains employed by the Transit Police.
The complaint, which was accompanied by video evidence, states that Holmes saw Garvey “screaming and swearing at an elderly woman’’ and attempted to defuse the situation. According to the suit, Garvey then slammed the older woman on to a bench. Holmes said the officers attacked her after she tried to call 911 to report the treatment of the older woman. Video appears to show that Garvey deployed pepper spray on Holmes and hit her with a baton.
The MBTA opened a new investigation of the confrontation after the suit was filed. Sullivan said the investigation remains ongoing and there is no timeline for its completion.
The incident occurred more than a year before the suit was filed. By the time the suit was filed, Garvey had experienced other trouble, and was on paid administrative leave after a January domestic violence arrest.
The arrest came after Garvey allegedly pointed a gun at her wife, who is also a transit officer. Her lawyer said the outbreak was triggered by post-traumatic stress disorder, and she was ordered to get mental health counseling. Garvey is an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan.
Less than two weeks after the suit was filed, in late August, Garvey faced further assault charges after an arrest at a Kenny Chesney concert at Gillette Stadium. Garvey remained on paid leave through the fall.
Attorneys who represented Garvey last year did not respond to requests for comment.
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