Lowell man convicted of stealing gold chain from man fatally struck by MBTA trolley

A Lowell man was sentenced to six months in jail after stealing a gold chain off a man who was struck and killed by a MBTA trolley in 2023, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Christopher Polanco, 26, was convicted Monday of one count of larceny under $1,200, the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a press release

Polanco was sentenced to one year in the House of Correction, followed by six months probation, officials said.

Polanco’s attorney did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

On May 30, 2023, a 30-year-old man was fatally struck and dragged by a MBTA trolley. The man had attempted to kick the side of a Green Line trolley on the eastbound Lechmere platform at North Station, the release said. 

Surveillance footage from 12:18 a.m. shows the man losing his balance and falling, and then being hit by another trolley behind the first one. The man’s shirt was caught on that second trolley, and he was dragged about 200 feet, according to the DA. 

His family later identified him as Sherborn native Adam White.

The surveillance footage showed another man, later identified as Polanco, pocketing an unidentified item from the platform. The object was later determined to be a gold chain necklace, officials said. 

Polanco pleaded not guilty in December 2023, court records show.

Three of the victim’s family members were present at Polanco’s arraignment in July of 2023, hoping to retrieve the “family heirloom allegedly taken,” the court docket said.

“I hope this victim’s family can derive some solace from the jury’s verdict regarding this defendant’s actions, which injected additional sorrow into an already tragic situation,” Hayden said.

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