Hey, there! Log in / Register

Alleged dumbass of the week: Steals girl's phone, then uploads photos of himself to her Facebook account

Wilmer Velazquez, who lists East Boston and South Boston addresses, was arraigned on a charge of armed robbery after he allegedly stole a 15-year-old teen's phone at knifepoint, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

Velazquez, 19, was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail at his arraignment in East Boston District Court, the DA's office says.

Prosecutors say his victim was playing with her yournger brother in the playground at Bremen Street Park in East Boston around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 18 when two guys came up to her:

One suspect drew a knife and told her in Spanish to hand over everything she had, making off with the victim's myTouch phone and $15 in cash, prosecutors said.

The victim reported the theft to T-Mobile but waited until Oct. 23 to go to Boston Police. On that day, she received a replacement phone from T-Mobile and used it to log on to Facebook, prosecutors said. When she did, she found that the same male who robbed her of her cell phone had used it – apparently accidentally – to post photos of himself to her Facebook account.

Boston Police detectives disseminated the photos to other law enforcement agencies in hopes of identifying the suspect. Within a day, Velasquez was identified by a MassPort Police sergeant, a Boston Police detective, and a Chelsea District Court probation officer.

In a statement, DA Dan Conley said that while social media has created new challenges for law enforcement, "every now and then, though, it makes our job much, much easier."

Innocent, etc.

Neighborhoods: 
Topics: 
Free tagging: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

He might be innocent until proven guilty, but his status as a dumb*ss is not alleged, that is definite.

up
Voting closed 0

Why did the victim wait five days to go notify the police she had been robbed at knifepoint?

up
Voting closed 0

Wake up, get coffee, do laundry, get robbed at knifepoint, go to lunch, clean the stove, watch TV, go to bed.

Just a normal day, y'know?

up
Voting closed 0

It's actually one of the safer neighborhoods in Boston in the big picture.

up
Voting closed 0

Maybe the girl was afraid of what might happen to her or her brother if she went to the po-po?

up
Voting closed 0

Well, if the victim was Latina, there is a chance she may be undocumented, or someone in her family is or she might have temporary protected status or some other immigration status that is tenuous. Interacting with local law enforcement is dangerous given the strengthening data sharing relationships with the feds. Even benign interactions can trigger procedures where your information is taken down for ostensibly decent reasons, but you could end up cross-checked on other databases - completely out of the control of the officer you're dealing with. The police don't want people afraid of them obviously, but for many folks with an unclear understanding of how the police work or how our immigration system (doesn't) work, it may just seem better to not risk having your life completely screwed over a cell phone.

up
Voting closed 0

She probably wasn't even going to report it, but some phone companies require their costumers to file a police report in order to receive a replacement phone.

up
Voting closed 0

Now that's a smart phone.

up
Voting closed 0

Wait she want 5 days without logging into her Facebook account? Are you kidding me? At that age I am not sure that is even possible. Second she has a phone but no computer access? not even at school/library? Granted she is 15 and the idiot who took the phone is really an idiot, there is something a bit off about her statement.

up
Voting closed 0

A rare incident for this park, especially considering the amount of families usually there and T foot traffic. Maybe if Massport would get out of their SUVs every now and then instead of driving around the pedestrian walkways in the park all day, or sitting in front of their station in them...

up
Voting closed 0