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Another armed holdup near BU; fourth one in two weeks

Alert broadcast on BU cable system tonight. Photo by Ana Maria Pulgarin.Alert broadcast on BU cable system tonight. Photo by Ana Maria Pulgarin.

Boston University Police alerted students tonight that a BU student was held up around 8:40 p.m. in the driveway of 808 Commonwealth Ave.

Her attackers were described as two young black men in hoodies, one with a gun. The previous three attacks, all in the same general area of Brookline just past the Boston line, involved three young black males - one estimated to be just 13.

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Comments

No security camera footage yet or tracked phones? There's got to be some pictures of these three thugs by now that they've been on a long spree.

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Same m.o., etc. How long do we wait to throw a BU sweatshirt on a youngish cop to nail these guys?

I spent a fair bit of time in that neck of the woods earlier this year and late last. There were some conspicuously shady looking characters lurking around there even during the midday hours in the vicinity of Knyvet Sq. and on Egmont.

I suspect that one of the reasons why these guys have been able to get away each time is because they're not getting away - my guess is that they live right there.

I have to believe the cops know that by now and as soon as they are able to get enough evidence to get a warrant are going to turn up the perps and the non-sold portion of the stolen goods in an apartment right over there.

C'mon BrPD. Let's get these pos.

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I remember a story on here years ago about a tow driver refusing to unhook a car upon the request of a Brookline cop...and there was no recourse when the driver refused. Those are the people you want to go after these scumbags?

Sniper. Rooftop. Period. Stake 'em out. Somebody pulls a gun, blow their head off. Done. Get the best sharpshooter statie you can.

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Thinking back to my 13 y.o. days, a sniper is not appropriate. Almost everyone I knew at the time did some stupid things. These are mis-guided children, playing a dangerous game, who need to be brought back to the herd.

Who in law enforcement is brave enough to step up and help them along with the rest of us?

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We jumped off a (expletive) cliff into Lake Champlain. We sure as hell didn't go around pulling guns on people.

Sorry, Tom, your analogy of "stupid kids" carries no water when firearms come into play. I don't think it's pleasant to send a sniper after a 13 year old either, but the reality is that the 13 year old knows what a gun is and what it does. He's not 5.

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The seriousness of the crime doesn't change the cause of the error of judgement. It only increases the stakes.

Either young kids have adult judgement, or they do not. Judgement doesn't snap back into place when danger is involved.

I refer you to this interview with Charles Nelson regarding brain development at this age:

http://to.pbs.org/OoVgAk
Nelson is the director of the Center for Neurobehavioral Development at the University of Minnesota, where he is a professor at the Institute of Child Development

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Well then, why don't you go provide them with a safety net? And your iphone as well, while you're at it. Gotta love all the bleeding-heart Wellesley/Weston/Winchester suburbanites.

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trust me on that one.

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these kids live in Roxbury and go to Brighton High or one of the charter schools on Comm Ave. One of them probably lives in the Jette Court Boston projects or the projects in Brookline there off of Comm Ave.

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They will be caught and instead of being sentenced to busting rocks they will receive a suspended sentence and ordered by the court to complete a rock climbing course at the BU community center

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That's a fairly isolated area by the bridge and turnpike. Add to that jurisdictional issues. And they most likely are coming from The Projects and know the area well, are familiar with college students and believe there's little risk in jumping them. It's without doubt the same lil' crew going around jumping people.

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The crimes have occurred south of Comm. Ave., not on the north side by the tracks and turnpike.

There is no jurisdictional issue. There is a little known state law that allows Boston, Newton and Brookline police to act as if they are in their own jurisdiction when 500 feet or less into one of the others (its from the 70s, I can't remember chapter and verse (but I have found it as recently as 2 years ago) and you likely won't find it because it was a session law (not one of the General Laws), but no doubt at least Pete Nice can confirm). This is separate and apart from the hot pursuit doctrine which would allow the Brookline Police to pursue suspects into Boston anyway during an active pursuit.

The short and long of it is that we need some good old fashioned police work to sniff these guys out. Hopefully that occurs soon and before someone gets hurt.

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Hope they get caught soon, otherwise it's just a matter of time before someone tries to fight back and gets shot like that poor Irish guy in Dorchester. Those thugs place no value on human life and would gladly murder you over a $50 cell phone.

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First off, yes, there is a 500 yard rule between Newton, Brookline and Boston, but these crimes wouldn't even matter since any citizen can arrest for a felony (i.e. a Boston cop driving through Brookline from Brighton to West Roxbury can arrest anyone committing a felony).

The problem is these suspects look like 90% of Brighton High students, 25% of Brookline High students, and 99% of Fidelis Way/Jette Court residents that live in that area (I've seen pictures of the robbers, and they look different on two of the seperate robberies, not by race, but by physical description).

There are thousands of kids that look like these suspects in the Allston/Brighton/Brookline area, and you can't follow them all around waiting for them to rob someone.

You don't catch street robbers by sending out cops in plainclothes in an area as large as this (50 different streets with poor sightlines). Robbers like this are caught when someone calls right away with a description and an cop is in the area with a cruiser (which I assmue is being done).

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Thanks for checking in, Pete, and for the correction - I couldn't remember if it was 500 feet or yards.

I was suggesting that we dress up some police to look like hapless BU students and good "targets" - not that we follow all of the local kids around, which would be impossible and inappropriate.

I'm not sure that I want any citizen arrest attempts of armed thugs. That sounds like a recipe for disaster with errand gunfire by undisciplined shooters in a very densely populated area.

Lastly, I thought that all of these crimes had been committed within a few 1-3 block area south of and parallel to Comm. Ave. - that's not very much real estate, and it's pretty much a grid layout in that area. Why are we talking about poor sightlines and cops in cruisers? I would think that it might be better handled by cops on foot or bikes.

What say you?

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by a National Guard sniper hiding in the bushes somewhere. I mean, what is the endgame when one of these little pieces of crap draws a weapon? Say the victim surrenders his belongings...then what? You can't stand there with the gun drawn forever. At some point, the victim will flee if he hasn't been shot already.

Then what? You have people who have guns, have made a threat with the guns...but no longer have the guns drawn on somebody. That's when they can be shot at, right? Again, to quote Jack Bauer: "Next time you pull a gun on me, you better be prepared to use it."

As far as I'm concerned, pointing a firearm at somebody who does not have a firearm is an act of war. Time for us as a society to respond in kind. An above commenter said "they have no regard for human life." Neither does al-Qaeda. Time to treat these offenders as war criminals.

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I'll get to that.

I've seen the tactic of dressing up female cops (usually in areas of high sexual assaults) and having them walk around, and I don't think it has ever worked. Catching a live (insert felony here) almost never happens unless you have a very specific location and timeframe. Even in an area which seems pretty small, is larger than you think. How many alleys/streets run inbetween Comm Ave. and the next street? There are hundreds, maybe thousands of spots where an incident could take place and no one could see it, even if you are looking for it, and especially if you are walking. These were the sightlines I was talking about, as most robbers are going to wait until there is no one there to make a move, but they never know when a car is coming around the corner.

I also believe two of these robberies were not on the actual sidewalk or street, but to the side in an alley from buildings.

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I'll get to that.

I've seen the tactic of dressing up female cops (usually in areas of high sexual assaults) and having them walk around, and I don't think it has ever worked. Catching a live (insert felony here) almost never happens unless you have a very specific location and timeframe. Even in an area which seems pretty small, is larger than you think. How many alleys/streets run inbetween Comm Ave. and the next street? There are hundreds, maybe thousands of spots where an incident could take place and no one could see it, even if you are looking for it, and especially if you are walking. These were the sightlines I was talking about, as most robbers are going to wait until there is no one there to make a move, but they never know when a car is coming around the corner.

I also believe two of these robberies were not on the actual sidewalk or street, but to the side in an alley from buildings.

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Start checking the backpacks at the charter school?

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