South End

A South End resident was arrested at the Brooke Courthouse yesterday after allegedly drawing his finger across his neck while staring at somebody awaiting Ricardo Arias's arraignment for the murder of Alex Sierra, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

A Roxbury resident, meanwhile, was arrested in the same courthouse on charges he repeatedly told people "someone else is going to die today," the DA's office says.

Incumbent Bill Linehan will share a room with challengers Suzanne Lee and Bob Ferrara on Sept. 13 in a forum sponsored by the Blackstone/Franklin Square Neighborhood Association

But initially, only on tuberculosis, not ebola, the Daily Free Press reports.

Arias outside the Alice Taylor project. Compare.
From his Facebook page.

Ricardo Arias had a one-day pass from the Judge Connelly DYS center in Roslindale to see the Red Sox play the Rangers at Fenway Park this past Saturday night. But as the Sox took the field, Suffolk County prosecutors charge, Arias was standing near the Villa Victoria housing project in the South End with a pal, asking passersby if they lived in "the Villa." And when one answered "yes," Arias pulled out a gun and shot him dead, they say.

Ricardo Arias, 17, of Roslindale, will be arraigned today on charges he gunned down a South End teen Saturday night, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Boston Police report a teen spotted leaving the area where another teen was shot to death in the South End last night was arrested on gun charges.

Police emphasized the 16-year-old, not named because of his age, was not charged with Alex Sierra's murder. However:

Update: Two arrested.

Updated 12 a.m.

Boston Police report an 18-year-old shot repeatedly at W. Brookline and Tremont streets around 7:20 p.m. died not long after at Boston Medical Center.

The teen, identified by family and friends on Facebook as Alex "Blanco" Sierra, was found inside El Barbaritos hair salon.

Two suspects, spotted fleeing in a gold minivan, were tracked to the area of Annunciation Road and Prentiss Street, near the Ruggles T stop and behind Boston Police headquarters. At least one may have been arrested on the other side of Tremont, at Warwick and Hammond streets:

About 4 Staties, 3 undercovers, 2 helicopters, 1 Taser and a perp.

The Sovereign Bank branch at 505 Tremont St. was held up this afternoon, about two weeks after its last robbery.

The suspect was described as a skinny white guy, wearing a blue ball cap and a gray hoodie.

A concerned citizen wonders about this storefront at 6 E. Springfield Street in the South End:

Loading pallet nailed to walls to prevent homeless sitting on extra entrance steps. How can this be approved by the historical society? Has been here for over 3 years. Please remove!

John McLachlan captured this tennis player at the height of the storm in Peters Park.

People came out to see the damage when a large tree came down on Union Park in the South End around 1:30 p.m.. Photo by Marija Strazdas, who says:

Very sad, it was a lovely tree.

The Dorchester Reporter has some equally dramatic photos of dramatic tree collapses in Dorchester.

Boston Police report they are looking for Anthony Thames, 28, for fatally shooting Raymond Lemar at E. Berkeley St. and Harrison Avenue early on the morning of Aug. 6.

Thames is described as 5'5", about 130 lbs. and with a muscular build.

If you see him, contact the homicide unit at 617-343-4470 or the anonymous tip line by calling 800-494-TIPS or texting TIP to CRIME (27463).

Innocent, etc.

Boston Police tweet the Sovereign branch at 505 Tremont St. in the South End was held up shortly after noon.

The suspect is described as a white man, 20-30, about 5'7" with a black hat with a red rim, black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt. A white guy with a goatee is wanted for two other Sovereign holdups this week.

The Huntington News reports a Northeastern student was arrested on charges he allegedly twice stole prescription painkillers from the CVS at 400 Tremont St., where he once worked, by putting on a white pharmacist's lab coat, walking to where they keep the good stuff and swiping the pills.

A fed-up South End citizen grouses:

Every trash day a small Asian woman comes out and rips open trash bags to find cans!! She makes a mess and the trash guys can't clean it all up, it's disgusting.

Ed note: Here in this far-away provincial outpost of Meninostan, we have alternating pickers: A small Asian woman and a skinny black man, both of whom are very courteous and don't make a mess, but then again, we have room for actual trash barrels and recycling "bins" with lids that are easy to lift, rather than thin plastic bags.

Boston Police report a man in his early 30s was found shot to death at the corner of East Berkeley Street and Harrison Avenue around 4:50 a.m. - around the corner from where the MBTA recently put up a prominent tower-mounted camera. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

On the one hand, a bleary-eyed South Ender writes, it's a good thing the police (MBTA in this case, not BPD) have perched an all-seeing eyecam on Harrison between East Berkeley and Traveler: Maybe it'll scare away the crack dealers. On the other hand, however:

The tower has a blue flashing light that runs 24/7. It never stops and forces us to close our blinds so we can sleep. Keep the tower and lose the light at night please.

UPDATED Wednesday afternoon.

A former South End resident was ordered held without bail on charges he murdered an elderly woman in her Union Park apartment in November, 1989.

Charles Brook, 66, already in prison on unrelated charges, is charged with the sexual assault and strangulation of Zahia Salem, 87, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. The DA's office reports a DNA match led Boston Police cold-case investigators to Brook; they then compiled additional evidence against him.

Video for the South End sneaker store:

Don't worry, the WF words don't come up once in the Dig interview.

Common Cause Massachusetts is hosting a Redistricting Olympics this summer. We will be taking citizen drawn Congressional, State House, and State Senate maps all summer, evaluating them, declaring a winner, giving out prizes and submitting the winning maps to the MA Legislative Redistricting Committee for consideration.

The purpose of the redistricting Olympics is threefold: to educate the public about the steps in the redistricting process, to initiate public participation in the political arena, and to pressure the legislature to draw the districts so that the citizens are appropriately represented.

Help show the legislature that redistricting is about our interests, not theirs. By participating in our redistricting Olympics and learning how to draw your own fair districts, you can acquire the tools you need to expose attempts by public officials to politicize the state’s new legislative maps.

For more information check out and/or email us at .

Participate in our democracy!

Adria Arch reports on and photographs an unusual art exhibit at Samson Projects on Harrison Avenue yesterday: Organizers asked ten artists to invite ten other artists to exhibit - and those ten artists were asked to invite ten artists and, well, 1,200 pieces of art wound up on the walls:

It was a fun mishmash of all sorts of art, and somehow it all worked to create a very interesting visual experience. The best part was there were no titles or names attached to any of the pieces, so you get to look without any preconceptions.

A vigilant citizen complains about the hydrant outside 784 Massachusetts Ave.:

Fire hydrant needs to be painted it makes this shrine look terrible.

The ad-hoc shrine marks the spot where Andrew Wyman was murdered on May 15.

Via another alert Citizens Connect browser, who writes: "Yeah, the fire hydrant's shabby paint is *exactly* what is wrong with this picture ..."

Boston Police report they are looking for a purse-stealing woman floating through offices in the Back Bay, the South End and downtown, stealing handbags that aren't attached to their owners:

In one incident, on Monday, June 6, 2011, officers from District A-1 (Downtown) took a report from a victim who stated that her credit card had been stolen from her work place at 150 Federal Street. The card was subsequently used, on the same day, to make purchases at a Target store.

If you know a lady who loots, contact A-1 detectives at 617-343-4248 or the anonymous tip line by calling 800-494-TIPS or texting the word TIP to CRIME (27463).

Vigilant smartphone-wielding citizen snaps a shot of a car with California plates in a resident-only space on Pembroke Street in the South End:

Nice guy with a nice BMW. Deserves ticket.