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Woman pushed to ground in Boylston Street mugging

Sgt. Luke Traxter at District D-4 report a woman walking in front of 729 Boylston St. around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday was pushed to the ground and robbed of her iPhone.

The mugger, described as a black female teen, then fled on a bike, along with two males, also on bikes.

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Comments

How many more, mistah speakah! How many more women will be pushed to the ground and have their personal phones taken by common thieves?

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It seems like there are lots of kids riding around on bikes committing robberies/assaults in the last few days. Is this just me?

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How many people witnessed this at 8:30 on Boylston? 100? 300? Hey, dudebros, stop dudebro-ing for 20 seconds, strap a set on and help a fellow citizen out!

Seriously, hip check 'em off their bikes and pin them to the ground before they know what the hell hit them (and meet any resistance with overwhelming force on the way down). It will be less than a minute before a cop (or 10) responds on that stretch.

I can tell you from personal experience that these thugs in training are relying on people to do nothing. You nail them with one or two friends and they will be screaming to be let go like the damned twerps that they are.

(As I have related here before, 17 or so years ago on Comm. Ave at Harvard, two friends and I absolutely leveled a punk that snatched a purse right in front of us. The kid (probably 17 or so) was so shocked that anyone did anything that he barely put up a fight - then again, the strike was, as recommended above, swift and delivered with overwhelming force. Resistance would have been futile. Upon responding (about 2 mins later), the BPD merely said, "nice job, fellas, we'll take it from here". Last I saw of the kid was his ass airborne on its way into the old D-14 paddy wagon.)

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This upsets me a lot. The fact that it isn't safe to be on Boylston across from Lord&Taylors at 8:30 on a Tuesday night is outrageous.

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As always, context is everything. I see so many kids wandering down the street, phone in hand, eyes glued to the screen, utterly obvious to the pedestrians (and everything else) around them. I could easily grab and dash six, eight, ten phones a day when college is in session.

So, let's not jump to conclusions without understanding context.

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Stop making excuses for criminals.

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excuses for opportunists

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Not that this assault isn't horrible, but one person gets mugged and now Boylston isn't safe? Please, we live in one of the safest cities in the country, Boylston is one of the safest streets in the city, and one mugging doesn't constitute a trend or change that fact.

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Umm... you clearly have no clue what goes on on Boylston. That's right, it's just been one assault ever. Gee guess you didn't hear about a couple of bombings not too long ago? And, I recall Adam has posted about a stabbing or two in the past. Do I feel safe walking Boylston: yes. Do I close my eyes and pretend nothing happens on Boylston: no. Wake up and educate yourself naive suburbanite before making ignorant comments the internet please.

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1) Above comment said nothing about only one assault ever happening. You've made a straw man argument
2) Above comment was about a few incidents not being a trend or a pattern. This is a fact, and that's not even getting into the fact that, statistically, Boston and Boylston Street are/is INCREDIBLY safe. You respond that a few incidents are in fact a trend or a pattern, and you did not dispute the fact that statistically Boston and Boylston Street are/is incredibly safe.
3) I'm not sure you can accuse someone of being a naive suburbanite with your pearls that tightly clutched.

So who needs to wake up and educate themselves?

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Issac - Paddy wagon - A racist slur against the Irish. Please use the term police wagon.

I know where you are coming from on leveling someone and like MahkyMahk I'm sure I would have taken out a few of those hijackers if I was on the plane on 9/11 like he would have, if he or I were only on the plane.

The average Boylston stroller, let me use an racial assumption, tends to be white or from another county where there are few black teenagers and have never been to some of the more down market parts of this fair city, yet they only hear negative stories about these less calm areas.

When the average Boylston stroller sees a black teenager or groups of black teenagers mugging someone one word comes to mind; GUN. We have stories on this site day after day of people being relieved of their possessions by means of people with guns and knives. While my street smarts and larger size have kept me away from ever looking down the barrel of a gun or the shiny side of a knife, a lot of other people fear it happening to them, as do I.

No one wants to be killed defending someone for a FoxCon product. If you have a clear shot next time, take the subject out, but I will leave it up to BPD to confront some muttonhead 15 year old who may have a firearm. If you are crazy enough to mug people around Jamaica Pond and supposedly safe Boylston Street, then you might just be armed. There is a elevated level of crazy out there.

I'm not making my kids be in their teens without their dad for a phone.

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Issac - Paddy wagon - A racist slur against the Irish. Please use the term police wagon.

This may be my own ignorance; it's not a term I use; but I always thought that the term derived from the fact that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the police departments of the East Coast cities were very Irish, and that the term wasn't derogatory. But if people of Irish ancestry find it offensive, then so be it.

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The most accepted derivation is that it is simply short for "patrol wagon" -- links with Irish, either as police or police targets have also been suggested (but not proved).

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Yes. A slurr as in a wagon to pick up all the drunken Paddys. Similar to the word brogue. A brogue is a mans shoe. So speaking with a brogue was intended as an insult as it sounded like you were speaking with a shoe in your mouth (you never hear about an English brogue - only Scottish and Irish) some of these terms have become part of regular vernacular and their original meaning has been scrubbed clean (hocus pocus) . paddy wagon is still holds an insult and I do not think police / newspapers use it,

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that there may be different origins of the word, brogue:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brogue

The shoe originated in Scotland, thus probably is why you hear only Scottish and then Irish use of the term to mean a type of accent.

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Padraig is Irish for Patrick. It is shorten to Paddy. It has been used as an ethnic slur used to refer to Irish people. So yes, it is offensive.

The term Paddy Wagon came from the New York Draft riots of 1863. The Irish at the time were the poorest people in the city. When the draft was implemented it had a provision for wealthier people to buy a waiver. The people rioted, it was blamed on the Irish and the term Paddy Wagon was coined. If you view the political cartoons of the time, the Irish are show as almost sub-human. And I am sure you have heard of the term "Irish need not apply"?

http://www.businessinsider.com/offensive-phrases-that-people-still-use-2...
http://thomasnastcartoons.com/irish-catholic-cartoons/new-york-draft-rio...
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071202093523AA8DEAq
http://www.irishpost.co.uk/news/newspaper-criticised-for-publishing-offe...

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The "Irish Need Not Apply" signs never existed in the United States. They were made up as a self-serving myth. The closest thing that historians have found is precisely two US newspaper ads with such a message.

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It was "English man wanted" or "Protestant man wanted", the assumption being what people remember. I'm too lazy to look it up, but it was common in 19th century newspapers in Boston.

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There were a couple along those lines, but best evidence is that such items were extremely rare. http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/no-irish.htm

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... for the very informative link.

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Just as there are articles saying that slavery was good for black people, you have articles like the one above.

While the Irish, at least after the Civil War, did not have the hardest time advancing economically, I just did a database search from the 19th and early 20th century for "protestant wanted" and protestant girl wanted" and found hundreds of advertisements. To be honest, I was surprised that the Philadelphia Inquirer was still running these in the 1910s, but there they were.

I will concede that when people in the mid-20th Century were claiming to see "No Irish Need Apply" signs they were being liberal with the truth, the prejudice was there.

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Please enquire in person.

How many ads did you see like that? Ones asking black people to voluntarily enter permanent servitude?

When you find one, let us know!

In the mean time, you might want to consult your PBS listings for the nice historical series on the slavery of black people that happened after slavery was illegal - for, oh, another century! That's like totally equivalent to "Protestant Girl Wanted" in every way - right!

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All I noted was that the article cited before had some bias to it. Just like those crazy kooks that try to claim that slavery was somehow good for the slaves. Some people are at best latent racists (my theoretical author) while others suffer from "white guilt" and due to this are insistent that the Irish had it easy when they first came to America (the article cited above.)

I will note that one of the 20th century Philadelphia Inquirer ads I saw did have an ad seeking a "colored person" for employment in some menial job right above it. And I'm not even going to claim that the Irish or Catholics overall had it worse than African Americans have it even now. I'm just saying that the "No Irish Need Apply" had an historical, though distorted, basis.

But no, the "scholarly" article and uhub post that said that ads seeking Protestant employees were rare are right, while my quick search of newspapers electronically finding hundreds of examples is wrong.

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I'm of Irish descent and I do not consider paddy wagon offensive. Others may disagree of course, but I have never met a single person who finds it offensive.

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Really? When I see a black kid on Boylston Street, I think ... nothing.

What's your frequency?

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Cool story, bro.

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When you hear watermelon, what do you think? I think of summer and deliciousness. As was evidenced yesterday, lots of people think "racism". You're so above racism, that you don't think anything when you see black kid on Boylston, so you claim. But I bet you thought the watermelon thing was racist.

Racism is in the eye of the beholder.

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Why are you wasting your time posting UHub comments when there are so many unsolved cases with which the BPD could use your assistance?

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Its not that people think racism when they hear watermelon, its when a cartoonist from a racist newspaper runs a comic showing the black president being asked about non-existent watermelon toothpaste for no reason (while other papers refused to run it as is), that people see the racist intent. The Herald knows their demographic, and Charlie Bakers silence on the issue (as opposed to Patrick who criticized it) shows he knows his.

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I'm outraged that you dare defend your heritage. Shut up and accept the fact that others are the victims not your kind. Its not unreasonable for someone to Google or Wiiki search Paddy Wagon to determine the truth.

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so terrible as ignorance in action (Goethe).

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Not that it has been established. It gives short form of "patrol wagon" as a more likely derivation -- at least in the article I read (unless someone has changed it overnight).

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In what way is that "more likely"? "Paddy" is an extremely common slang name for an Irishman, whereas I've never heard it in my life used as a slang for "patrol". Can you provide a single citation that *isn't* wikipedia (or an unsourced website) for this theory?

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... for this derivation. Not having a personal copy of this, I can't double check it.

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OK, then, can you find a single example, anywhere, of "paddy" actually being used as slang for "patrol"? 'Cause that's a new one on me, whereas "paddy" as slang for "Irishman" is extremely common, going back hundreds of years.

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It is under the entry for colloq "an Irishman"

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And that is why there is a book search on google.

"Paddy" (a common Irish shortening of Patrick) was used as a pejorative with which to insult Irish people. Irishmen made up a large percentage of the officers of early police forces in many American cities. This concentration of Irish in the police forces could have led to the term "paddy wagon" being created.

Some theorize that the backs of these vehicles were often filled with rowdy, fighting drunkards. Irish people have also been stereotyped in this regards, which may have also contributed to the term.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZyluAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT679&dq=paddy+wagon+or...

So in short? Patrol Wagon is not derogatory but Paddy Wagon is...

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Check out the tough guy over here.

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I have never actually witnessed a crime like this in the city (some after action, like cops handcuffing someone or interviewing a witness)

I take the T into work every day, and go out and around using the T as my main transport. My first inclination would be to help in these sorts of instances, but truth be told, if I am lets say, chasing down someone who has snagged someone else's phone (maybe one o the dummies who lounge in the doorway of the T at park street half blocking it, absorbed in text) and this perp stabs me in the chest when I grab onto him...why would I risk that? I have a wife and two young kids, and we're talking about some idiot who isn't safe with their phone having it nicked.

I do truly believe in the notion of 'evil will take root when good men do nothing' but in cases like phone theft, there are times where -I- want to slap the damn phone out of the persons hands.

Is me getting stabbed, or punched in the face worth it for someone else's phone that they shouldn't have been displaying anyways?

You can say what you want about me, but I see a black teenager, I cross the street.

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Nice. Blaming the victim and racism in one post. Ye Olde Boston is alive and well.

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For stating a simple truth? Is Juan Williams racist for saying the same thing?

If you're walking down a dark street at 3 am and you see 2 black teens in hoods walking towards you and you think nothing of it, you're either lying or you're about to realize that stereotypes do exist for a reason. Welcome to the city.

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The original poster stated just that he'd cross the street if he sees a black teenager. You've now qualified that to be 2 teens at 3am on a dark street. So where's the simple truth?

If you cross the street when you see a black kid in the city then you must be in the crosswalks all day long.

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"You can say what you want about me, but I see a black teenager, I cross the street."

He made a simple statement about himself. I have no reason to believe he is lying. That's the simple truth.

Whether you choose to cross the street in certain situations or you choose to play the odds, that's on you.

On a crowded street, sure, one would be less likely to cross the street.

So let me ask you. If it were even 10 pm, on an empty street, and ONE black teen is walking towards you, Do you even consider crossing the street?

As the old joke goes: What do you call a democrat who's been mugged?

A: A republican.

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Making a decision based on race isn't racist anymore? This is republican logic? Wait, don't answer that.

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Based on simple statistics.

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To post these statistics.

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Post your statistics, that aren't, as you say, based on race.

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How about a map of where crime happens, and then you can look up the demographics of each neighborhood yourself...

http://spotcrime.com/ma/boston

Unless you think a bunch of white guys are running around terrorizing Roxbury...

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No, a map is not statistics, a map of Roxbury showing where the crime occurs there does not tell you anything about crime occuring somewhere else.

Please show us the statistics you said you use to avoid walking near blacks.

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That map shows all of Boston. Not just Roxbury.

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I think the GOP would be offended by the phrase "old joke" linked to them in any way.

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Wow. You must cross a lot of streets in Boston. What do you do if they are BOTH sides of the street?

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Do you wear a seat belt when in a car?

I do. I've never been in a car accident, but I wear one because it increases my safety if it ever were to happen.

Same reason I cross the street.

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I always walk down the middle of every street I'm on.

I do get hit by a lot of cars, but at least I'm safe.

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I can say what I want about you, great! You are a sad racist whose children will hopefully not inherit your fear of people who are different than you. You will be crossing lots of streets a lot more often as our country grows increasingly diverse.

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You can keep pretending that the reality doesn't exist, it will not change the fact that it does. You call it racism. I call it situational awareness.

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I'm a small-ish woman.

I used to walk in that area when the crime rate was far higher.

I never cross the street because I see a black kid, or whomever. Only if I have other reasons to be concerned (and that usually involves multiple drunk people, race independent).

Oh, and get this - despite working and living in sketchy areas at sketchy times and walking around at all hours ... I have never been mugged!

Perhaps there is something to this refusal to live in fear?

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I don't put myself in dangerous situations. The only thing I fear is the direction of this country because people are scared to have an honest conversation about race and crime.

I know plenty of upstanding black people who are disgusted by what has become of the black culture.

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Right.

You don't put yourself in situations that you have been told to fear. I'll take a couple of black kids talking quietly as they walk along over three or four drunk white frat boys shoving each other and looking for a fight/target any day.

Like I said - 30 years, early ones much higher crime, several different areas of the city, no problems.

Oh, yeah - looks like you should tell a Greenway park ranger your theory of crime. Oops - wouldn't help.

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I live on Fort Hill, which as you may be aware, is in Roxbury.

Just the other week, I saw a group of four hoodie-wearing Black teenagers congregating in the park with the clearly criminal intent of...playing Go Fish.

I've seen others in the same park engaged in the antisocial activity of...doing their homework.

Maybe you can help me out with a couple questions: if I cross the street every time I see a Black teenager, how do I get into my house? Do I have to wait until the downstairs neighbors and their friends are done playing Frisbee and making chalk art on the sidewalk? What if I'm already in the house and I have to go to work and they're hanging out on the steps chatting? "Hey guys, how are you, 'scuse me" has worked so far, but apparently that's wrong?

Also, do I have to implement this strategy in eight years when my black daughter becomes a teenager? Our place isn't that big. Do we just have to stay in our respective rooms? For how long?

Thank you in advance for your well-reasoned response.

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OMG OMG there are three young black men outside my window RIGHT NOW and one of them is...is....he's...WALKING A SHIH TZU PUPPY.

If that's not the very definition of thug, I don't know what is, itellyouwhat.

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