Orange Line

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a man they say "manipulated himself" in front of a woman at Tufts Medical Center on Oct. 6 when the woman saw him again last night at the Orange Line station.

Police say Juan Pena, 23, started his subway interlude on Oct. 6 by piggybacking his way into the station. Then:

[He] proceeded over to the victim with his pants unzippered and was manipulating himself. The female victim screamed and attempted to walk away from the male, however he followed close behind her the entire time masturbating. The victim contacted Transit Police and reported the incident.

Last night, around 8:20, police say, the woman entered the station and saw the guy on the platform. She immediately contact police, who, after she IDed him, arrested him on a charge of open and gross conduct. He's scheduled for arraignment today in Boston Municipal Court.

Innocent, etc.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a Boston man for allegedly masturbating in full view of other Orange Line riders from Oak Grove to about Wellington, around 4:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Guy's scheduled for arraignment today on a charge of lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct.

The Herald reports a Lowell man arrested as an unregistered sex offender at Forest Hills the other day after somebody complained about him taking pictures of little kids turns out not to have a record as a sex offender. As a convicted stabber and prison-guard attacker, yes, but he was released in April after having served his time for those, the Herald writes.

Melinda Green spotted a Sob Story Guy and two Sob Story Girls having a little chat this morning at the Mass. Ave. stop on the Orange Line. She reports:

I've been keeping track of the little blond one's tales of woe for over a year now. Wondering if this is their daily starting point? The little blond one must be the pimp-I-mean-the-brains of the operation. Sometimes she has to get back to Providence for 1-3 kids, sometimes age 7, sometimes age 16.

Oh Christ. A new one just boarded my train. Claims to be HIV positive and needs to get to Fall River.

UPDATE, 9:10 a.m.: MBTA says normal service has resumed.

The morning started with signal problems at Wellington (remember when the T seemed to spend several years upgrading the signals north of Boston?). Now, there's some sort of flooding that's so bad the T is urging people who need to get downtown to get on the Green Line instead, which is great advice unless you're nowhere near the Green Line.

Wheeze. v. To pull into a terminal station on the Orange Line. "The train wheezed into Forest Hills, emitted a loud sigh at its fate in life and then the doors opened."

MBTA Transit Police report arresting a Malden man on charges of indecent assault and battery for an incident involving a female Orange Line passenger on Sept. 13 somewhere between State Street and Malden Center.

Gerard Bottari, 61, was scheduled for arraignment today in Malden District Court, police say.

Innocent, etc.

Donut & Donuts, Sullivan Square T stop. Photo by Truck Stop Tea Party.

Johnson (l) and Bacai.UPDATE: The MBTA reports detectives tonight found and arrested Bacai.

MBTA Transit Police report obtaining a warrant for Ivan Bacai, 23, for his alleged role in stomping a mentally disabled man at the Downtown Crossing Orange Line stop early Monday.

Bacai is the fifth person charged for the attack, in which a man was beaten and kicked repeatedly, police say. Earlier today, Germial Johnson, a homeless 28-year-old-man, turned himself into Transit Police in Dorchester.

If you know where Bacai is, contact police at 617-222-1212 or by anonymously texting 873873.

MBTA Transit Police report two minors trying to procure some mid-day booze at a Forest Hills liquor store wound up in a fight with a guy who jabbed himself with a needle, pulled out some blood and then told them they'd better back off because he has AIDS.

Police say Jose Soler, 47, of Hyde Park, originally agreed, shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday, to buy some liquor for a pair of underagers at the Forest Hills Liquor Mart across from the T stop. They gave him $25 and agreed to let him keep $5 as his fee. But he returned to the station without liquor, handed the teens only $3 and then walked into the station's lower busway. And that's when things got ugly:

Lashus (l) and Akiba.UPDATE: Third suspect arrested.

MBTA Transit Police report arresting two of four people they say ended an argument early Morning on an Orange Line platform at Downtown Crossing by beating and kicking their solitary opponent.

Karen Akiba, 22 of Cambridge, and Bryon Lashus, 32 of Watertown, will be arraigned today in Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault and battery on a disabled person and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon following their arrests for an incident around 12:30 a.m. on the southbound Orange Line platform.

Police say the victim got into an argument with a woman and that her three companions attacked him, leaving him with "lacerations and swelling to his facial and torso areas."

Police add they continue to hunt additional suspects.

Innocent, etc.

Happened shortly after 5:50 p.m., based on the tweets from people in suddenly sweltering cars sitting on tracks just outside the station. Rescuers were able to get him safely off the tracks in just a few minutes.

"Well/at least a/c back on," Frank Conte reported at 5:57. Andrew Choy praised the driver on his train for keeping riders up to date: "Packed train and no air had potential for freak-outs."

The Globe reports police are looking for two men and two women who beat up a man on the southbound Orange Line platform shortly after midnight, then boarded a train towards Forest Hills.

Channel 4 reports Orange Line inspector Jackie Osorio helped slow a train coming into State Street just as a woman was jumping onto the tracks - just like in 2009, when another woman fell on the tracks at North Station.

This time, the train was unable to come to a halt before reaching the woman, but fortunately for her, she was able to get up and wedge herself in one of those wall cut outs as the train rumbled by her. Osorio helped get the woman out of the space.

Train-stopping tree. Photo by MBTA.

Around 6:30 p.m., the Orange Line came to a stop when a tree fell on the tracks between Jackson Square and Stony Brook. At 7:05, the T reported normal service had resumed, and of course by "normal," they mean with those "residual delays."

Brian D'Amico reports State and Boston police flooded the area around the Stony Brook stop on the Orange Line after a knife fight shortly after 4 p.m. - even as people nearby celebrated Boston's ties to the Dominican city of Bani in the annual Convite Banilejo. A State Police helicopter and K9 units were brought to the scene to look for a third suspect.

Joshua Rodriguez, familiar to visitors at Faneuil Hall for playing what he calls "junkyard jazz" on old buckets, will face charges for allegedly punching a man out at the Orange Line station on June 16.

Rodriguez, 21, was arrested by State Police on an unrelated charge elsewhere. If there is time left after he is arraigned for that, he will be transported to West Roxbury District Court for arraignment on the Forest Hills charge, an MBTA spokesman said today.

In the video, posted earlier this year, Rodriguez said he only works Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the tourist destination. The rest of the week, he said, "I just sit at home, I play video games and I smoke a lot of weed." Rodriguez, who said he's been drumming outside since sixth grade, said he makes enough he could buy a BMW his freshman year in high school.

Innocent, etc.

Sure, there were hot trains and stinky people on the Red Line, and no doubt some Blue Line cars had the AC cranked up too high, but for sheer misery, nothing beat the Green and Orange Lines this evening: Dead trains, one rider who wanted to be dead and wandered onto the tracks, Red Sox fans, that single-door policy above ground and, oh, yeah, stations that appeared to stretch straight down to Hades. Herewith a report from what Alison Preston Baldyga dubbed the MBTA Sweat Fest 2012:

MBTA Transit Police report they are looking for a guy who knocked a man into unconsciousness at the Orange Line station and his alleged toady:

On Saturday, June 16, 2012, a 55-year-old male was the victim of an Aggravated Assault and Battery at Forest Hills Station. The victim was approached by a male, who stated he was going to steal his girlfriend. The suspect then punched the victim above his right eye, causing him to lose consciousness. The suspect then fled the station through the lower bus way toward Washington Street, accompanied by another male.

More details and police contact info on the wanted poster.

A fare-hike protest that began outside the Park Street T stop this evening ended at Chinatown station on the Orange Line, where 25 protesters held open the fare gates on the inbound side and cheered when maybe 10 people went through the open gates - although some pressed their Charlie Cards to the readers anyway.

Northbound Orange Line riders reported more delays during this afternoon's rush.

Tufts crowd. Photo by Lalunkee.

A couple days after the Globe highlighted the workers who keep the ancient Orange Line running, hundreds of commuters found themselves on steaming platforms waiting for trains that just didn't come, thanks to two dead trains that had to be pulled out of service right during the afternoon rush hour.

First a train struggled but failed to make it past North Station on its way to Forest Hills, around 4:40 p.m. Then a train that claimed to be on its way to Oak Grove instead proved it was on the way to train Valhalla, gumming up the line and leaving passengers waiting for upwards of 25 minutes for a ride home.

Boston Police have their stop-sign runners and speeders and MBTA Transit Police have their fare piggybackers. A man stopped for allegedly evading the fare at the Mass. Ave. Orange Line stop yesterday afternoon proved to have warrants for more serious offenses, police say.

According to a police report, plainclothes officers watched William Brady, 37, of Chelsea, following a fare-paying man through a fare gate at Mass. Ave. around 1:20 p.m.

That's normally good for just a ticket, but a check showed Brady had outstanding warrants for armed robbery and cocaine distribution, the report says. Also, he had a folding knife and some marijuana on him, police say. He was brought to MBTA police HQ for the warrants - and to be issued citations for fare jumping and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

Innocent, etc.

Meg Fowler Tripp reports from the Orange Line terminus:

All but 2 ticket machines & 2 gates not broken @ Forest Hills + rude T staff + seeing 1/2 people get on bus free = bah, fare increase.

No, not the guy with the pencil 'stache?

One of the ladies: "Like it's my @$&%! problem the machines don't work." -- after an older person got the "See Agent" message.

The MSPCA reports Mace the pomeranian mix is now short a couple of toes, which had to be amputated after getting mangled at the top of an escalator at the Forest Hills T stop:

The doctors concluded that Mace's foot was so damaged that surgery was scheduled the following day to remove two of his toes. Doctors at Angell expect Mace will make a full recovery and will even learn to walk just as well as before on his now slightly altered hind leg.