East Boston man faces federal charges for gunfire in Cambridge's Port neighborhood last month

Cambridge Police and the FBI say Jammy Alphonse had a long night on July 25 into the 26th - which could now mean a long sentence in a federal prison.

According to documents filed in US District Court in Boston, Alphonse, 27, came downstairs from his luxury waterfront duplex in East Boston late on the 25th, then made his way over to the Port section of Cambridge, where he allegedly got out at least one gun around 1:45 a.m. and fired round after round, without hitting any one. He ran at least one red light as he sped away, into Somerville, where he got on I-93 southbound. He got off at Government Center, or at least tried to - he crashed his black Camry at the top of the ramp shortly after 2 a.m. He abandoned his car there, walked over to Faneuil Hall and called for a ride as he walked down Union Street. He got back across the harbor and to his building at 2:33 a.m. and went to sleep in one of his three bedrooms.

Federal agents - accompanied by Cambridge Police officers - arrested Alphonse at his fifth-floor loft-style apartment at 126 Border St. in East Boston on Friday on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, which could mean a sentence of up to ten years in federal prison if he's convicted, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

According to an affidavit by an FBI agent on the case, Alphonse is barred from possessing a gun or ammo because on Feb. 7, 2020, he was convicted in Lynn District Court and sentenced to a year in jail for credit-card fraud over $250.

The affidavit describes what Alphonse allegedly did at the intersection of Cherry and Harvard street, if not why, on July 26:

Following the shots fired call, CPD canvassed the area of Cherry Street and Harvard Street for victims, witnesses, and evidence. Witnesses interviewed by CPD stated that they heard multiple gun shots in the area of Cherry Street and Harvard Street around the time of the reported incident. In addition, CPD’s investigation revealed that a round was fired into an air conditioner at 167 Cherry Street and multiple rounds were fired into a motor vehicle located in vicinity of 167- 169 Cherry Street. CPD used MSP Crime Scene Services to collect evidence at the scene of the shooting, including approximately 21 shell casings: sixteen .40 caliber and five .9mm.

The affidavit does not say whether Alphonse fired all those rounds himself or if he had help from one of the two men spotted on a video camera at his Border Street building going up to his apartment before he drove to Cambridge - or if somebody else joined in the shooting.

However, the affidavit does say that Alphonse was allegedly equipped with enough ammunition to fire multiple rounds all by himself. A search of his apartment revealed "multiple firearm magazines, three firearm holsters, and multiple rounds of ammunition," according to the affidavit, which adds the search also found, lying on a bed in another bedroom: a Glock Model 43X 9mm gun, "consistent with the shell casings" found in Cambridge. Also recovered: A bag with "a rock-like substance in a white paper towel wrapped inside of a mask," which tested positive for fentanyl.

The gunfire was one of several incidents of gunfire this year in the Port.

After the FBI got involved in the investigation, not long after the gunfire, an agent "conducted a video canvas in the vicinity of Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston in connection with the crash and abandonment of the SUSPECT VEHICLE." It turns out the area is loaded with surveillance cameras, enough that investigators were able to track Alphonse basically minute-by-minute almost as soon as he got out of his wrecked car.

CPD advised FBI Boston VCTF [Violent Crime Task Force] that they had observed a black male, dressed in all black, running from the direction of the crash, through the North Market on July 26, 2021 at approximately 1:58 a.m. Law enforcement reviewed video surveillance from a business located on Union Street, which is adjacent to the Faneuil Hall area, which revealed that, on July 26, 2021, at approximately 2:01 a.m., ALPHONSE, dressed in all black, was observed talking on his phone while walking directly in front of the business.

Alphonse only moved into his Border Street residence recently. In September, he was listed as living in Everett - by New York State Police, who say he tried to outrun a traffic stop on the New York Thruway in the Westchester town of Harrison, only to be caught by state troopers after a six-mile chase.

Innocent, etc.