BOSTON — A teenager is facing charges after allegedly harassing an MBTA passenger over the weekend and tossing his suitcase onto the tracks, causing an explosion, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.
Around 11:20 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14, Hayden says five teens were involved in a confrontation with a rider and accused him of photographing them at the State Street station.
The DA says that one of the group members, 19-year-old Addonis Reed, separated himself from the group and began to follow the other rider.
Reed can allegedly be seen on MBTA security footage grabbing the victim’s phone and throwing it on the ground several times.
Reed eventually stole the victim’s suitcase and threw it onto the train tracks, where it exploded and caught fire.
The State Street station was evacuated while emergency crews responded.
The victim told police his suitcase contained more than $3000 in items, including two iPads, an Acer laptop, Apple AirPods, and chargers.
Reed was arrested after police reviewed surveillance footage. He is charged with obstructing or endangering a railroad, larceny from a person, unarmed robbery, disorderly conduct and two counts of malicious destruction of property.
The DA’s office says Reed has an open case in Roxbury BMC for disorderly conduct, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault on a police officer from December and an open case out of BMC Central for disorderly conduct, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault on ambulance personnel from January 6.
“This is an alarming set of facts, both with the fear that the victim must have experienced during the incident and the destruction of his property and subsequent station evacuation and shutdown in service. I’m grateful for the quick work of transit officers in identifying and arresting this defendant,” Hayden said.
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