The MBTA transit police today released a “Wanted” poster for 11 suspects accused of larceny, assault and drug crimes in the transit system.
Some of the crimes include indecent assault and battery at Downtown Crossing station, open and gross lewdness at South Station bus terminal, assault and battery on a T employee at Park Street station and drug distribution at the JFK/UMass station, police said.
Reports of assaults on T workers and riders have made headlines lately, with two people facing charges today for allegedly beating a disabled man at the Downtown Crossing station, and an incident last week in which an MBTA bus driver was allegedly punched in the face for not stopping for an irate passenger.
But the most common crime in the T, according to transit police, is larceny, with 484 reported since January.
Of those, 152 involved the theft of bicycles or bike parts, and the majority of thefts are happening at the Forest Hills station in Jamaica Plain.
However, that doesn’t mean that the station is any more dangerous than others in the transit system, according to police.
“There are a lot of factors to take into consideration. to say that any station is more dangerous than another would be inaccurate,” said Transit Police Superintendent-in Chief Joseph O’Connor, adding,”Any time we see a pattern emerging we add resources to that area. Right now our focus is on the Forest Hills station for bike larcenies. Hopefully we’ll have some success there.”
According to transit police statistics, there have been 276 reported simple assaults this year, and 29 reports of indecent assault and battery – down from 37 during the same time period last year.
By releasing information on wanted criminals, T police hope to get help from the public.
“These are not crime that have happened over the last few days,” O’Connor said. “These are people who have warrant, and we believe that the public viewing these individuals may give us tips lead to their arrest, bring them back into the court system.”
