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Maine man drives wrong way down Columbia Road, faces charges for the three guns in his car, police say

Boston Police report a Maine man driving on the wrong side of Columbia Road in Uphams Corner early this morning tried to escape police by getting back onto the right side and speed away, only to get stuck on a median, where his rear wheels spun uselessly as the officers approached.

Now the 70-year-old man is under arrest on gun charges and in a hospital for evaluation, police say.

Police say that officers on routine patrol around 1:45 a.m. spotted the man, driving very slowly towards Blue Hill Avenue, shift onto the left side of the road just past Dudley Street.

At this time the officers activated the blue lights and siren on their cruiser and attempted to make a stop of the car. The operator of the vehicle then attempted to drive over the median in the road, and the vehicle became stuck on the median. The officers approached the vehicle which the operator was still attempting to drive. Officers gave commands to turn off the vehicle but the operator continued to try and drive away. Officers could hear the engine rev loudly and observed the back tires spinning. Officers were able to open the driver’s door and turn the vehicle off.

Police say EMS was called to take the man to a local hospital for evaluation. Before they had the car towed away, the officers conducted an inventory search and found three guns in a bag.

The man, whom police did not name, will be arraigned in Roxbury Municipal Court on three counts of illegal possession of a firearm and operating with a suspended license, police say.

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Comments

The age is off by a year but I'm not willing to rule out that this is Paul Lepage.

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and occasionally on the sidewalk.

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He's old and it sounds like he was disoriented. He's from Maine where it's not so weird to have three guns in a sack in the back of the car.

I'll withhold final judgement, but I think this is a case where perhaps a bit of human kindness (and a trip to a neurologist) would be the appropriate outcome.

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So let me get this straight - we have a guy from out of state who clearly should not have even been driving going the wrong way through oncoming traffic at 1:42am with multiple firearms in his possession, who then tried to run from police (tried to peel out but was stuck), and we just need to offer him some kindness?

I'm sorry, but this is not grandpa going out to get milk and getting a little confused. This is a dude who drove across state lines with multiple guns in his car, who then tried to run from police.

Don't know if he was intoxicated, on medicine, or losing his mental faculties, but either way this guy should not be driving, let alone possess multiple firearms.

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....so that's why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. This sounds more like grandpa drove down from Maine to Foxwoods, had a few drinks, got off the expressway to get gas and got lost and then panicked when he saw the cops.

(Or maybe he's like that old guy with the guns and young girlfriend and the smack from a few weeks back....If that's THIS guy's story, then I retract my loving ode to grandpa.)

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Not only from you but also the police, who are only bringing up charges for illegal possession of a firearm and operating with a suspended license.

Oh maybe he only had a few drinks? How in the hell would that excuse the motorists behavior in your world? If we're gonna go with what this "sounds more like", it's that grandpa shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car.

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Enabler.

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Someone else agrees that he should not be driving, because one of the charges is " Operating a Motor Vehicle with Suspended/Revoked License."

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Disoriented is a HUGE reason this man should NOT be driving.

Not sure what planet you live on, but dangerous driving is dangerous driving is dangerous driving no matter WHO does it or WHY.

Dangerous drivers should not be allowed to drive again. Period.

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And it's so nice how Gary makes him out a saint. Disoriented man. Driving on blue hill ave slow at 1:30 I'm sure he was looking for a nice friendly night walker to share his not so weird guns with. That's a felony in Massachusetts 18 months mandatory for 1 gun he had 3. What a nice man from Maine.

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I saw the aftermath driving home last night, err.... this morning.... and was impressed and curious as to how he got himself hung up there.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3167014,-71.0657675,3a,75y,154.34h,90.3t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swQAMr2G5nwnrMsoIeDoL0w!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

"What's that, Officers?"
"My name?"
"ummmmm.... Bery. Bery Hancock."

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But I'm not afraid of him shooting me with his guns. I'm just not. I pity people who are scared of everybody.

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Will, I appreciate your libertarian perspective here. However, the harm here is not you being afraid of his guns. It is the fact that, by all appearances, he is selling illegal guns in a part of the city with significant gang activity and a disproportionate number of shootings. The logical implication, acknowledging that it is merely an implication at this point, is that these guns will be used not on you, but on the people in this community, whether they are "innocent" or otherwise. Thus, even under a libertarian view, there is a harm here that should be addressed.

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Then end gangs, which form when people live in areas of low economic opportunity.

Step 1: End shelter profiteering and a system that requires most anybody to go through a bank to secure any kind of permanence for a residence.

Redlining and tax deductions for housing started all of this. The notion that two adults should not be involved in a firearms transaction in 2018 just because we elected jerkoffs in the 1960s carries no water with me. Guns exist. Either the Mainer is going to sell it, or somebody else is going to sell it. But the gangster is going to buy it. Maybe do something about the gangster.

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You taking the next police test?

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I like the jobs I have now. I'm not desperate enough for money today to go become a ward of the state. I like Boston, but it would be an embarrassment for me to represent it as any kind of public servant.

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Why not? You’re so brave though.

You come off as SO BRAVE in your posts.

Take the test? You’re a hero and this city needs you.

You’re a Superman. At least from you internet posts, that’s how you present yourself. Save us.

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The guy lives in (expletive) Maine. Unless he sells to people in the Faneuil St. project, he may never be within 100 miles of me again.

I'm not afraid of being targeted in a shooting. Maybe I end up a victim in one of these mass events in the news, but I'm not going to demand that everybody else get their property taken away because of any fear I might have.

Also, you posted anonymously and challenged the fortitude of a person who has introduced himself to you. Your rhetoric has little merit.

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You know, the ones who have guns "for protection."

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I would pity them, as I do all victims of theft.

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So your parents never take your toys away when you abuse them?

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Don't make enemies with the people who are going to care for you when you're old.

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Since we are all in speculation mode here, I'll give it my own. I follow the gun issue quite closely in Dorchester, and I go up and down Columbia road on a regular basis. A 70 year old from Maine driving down that street in the middle of the night with 3 guns in his trunk is very unusual. I have heard and read numerous times from the cops that a lot of guns that end up in the hood come either from the 3 states above us, or from the Southern states that have much more lax gun purchase laws. Maybe this is the latest delivery service provided by Uber?

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I couldn’t agree more. He was here to make a sale and probably had a little too much liquid courage which contributed to his poor driving skills. All these illegal guns in the City of Boston. When oh when is BPD, State Police and DEA going to try to find out how they are getting here. If you’re not going to allow law-abiding citizens the right to carry, at least get these firearms out of the hands of these scoundrels.

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When oh when is BPD, State Police and DEA going to try to find out how they are getting here.

This ia not a mystery. The guns are carried here by persons who obtained them legally in states with lax gun-control laws, or who obtained them illegally by theft. They are, in essence, smuggled into MA from other places. I assume you don't want checkpoints at the state borders where police search all vehicles for guns. Short of that, just what do you think the cops can do to stop the gun-smuggling?

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It seems a little early to make judgements on this case!!! Lets see how it plays out in court could be all a misunderstanding!! Hopefully theres a logical reason for what on the surface seems a lil erratic. Could be he borrowed the truck a didn't know anything about the guns. Sounds like hes a good kid who was in the wrong place at wrong time

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A "good kid"? This guy is 70 years old. Just how ancient are you, Phil D?

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Maybe if Mayor Marty was so concerned with building up the seaport and td garden with all these new $3800 a month studio apartments and focused on job training programs and affordable housing these young men wouldn't be out so late in the streets with weapons and would be home getting ready for school

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Looks like you're ready to blame somebody else, anybody else, for this 70-year-old Maineiac's actions. Why is that?

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So...you want Marty to hand out rubbers to people who don't know how to use them or something? That'll make housing cheaper in a few decades.

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People do this thing called "moving". I don't know if I can find a census stat for it, but many people living in and around Boston were not born here.

Note that you no longer live in Burlington.

There was a time when people were moving out of Boston and older people thought that younger people were nuts to buy houses near the city to avoid long commutes. Then other people started buying houses near and in the city ...

Long before that? People coming from other areas of the world.

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This is where jobs and smart people and beaches are. Also a lot of folks coming from countries that we've fouled up with war. Cities are where it's at.

Only guy I know who wants to be a farmer is my cousin up in Worcester, VT, and even he's finally punting on VT in his 40s to go live in Maine.

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