By Daniela Ginsburg
Parts of Jamaica Plain are experiencing higher rates of shoplifting, drug activity and juvenile violence, according to Michael Reiskind, a member of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council.
Resikind presided over the regular Boston Police Department District E-13 Business Public Safety meeting, which was held via Zoom on April 9.
He read from a police report detailing incidents in March and early April that occurred at Forest Hills, Centre and South Main streets, South Huntington Avenue, Main Street, and Egleston Square.
Nine residents attended the meeting.
He disclosed that there were seven shoplifting incidents at the CVS store at 704 Centre St. in the past month. He said he does not usually report the CVS incidents, since the store has had a long history of shoplifting, but this month’s reports were “a little more busy.”
He shared details of a firearms arrest on Centre and South streets on April 3. In that incident, Reiskind read, the city police’s Youth Violence Strike Force responded to reports of a large party at 5 Metcalf Court, where a group of eight people was found.
Two were detained after they fled and entered an open doorway at Metcalf. They ran up the stairs and attempted to close an apartment door away from the officers, Reiskind said.
A 16-year-old who was with the group but did not flee was taken into police custody after they said they found a firearm with an extended 10-round magazine in his possession.
Two other adults will be summoned to West Roxbury District Court.
Reiskind also said that the Forest Hills and Roslindale area has experienced reports of increased drug activity since last year. That includes the recovery of bags of cocaine, fentanyl and multiple firearms from a Boston couple by police after a months-long investigation.
Transit and Boston Police were also called to an MBTA bus at Forest Hill Station after a man with a butcher knife slashed tires and threatened passengers. The two officers who took down the suspect were transported to a hospital along with additional passengers whose injuries were not specified.
In addition, Reiskind reported multiple incidents involving a female juvenile who has made repeated calls, making unspecified threats on South Huntington Avenue. Officers traced the phone number to an address on South Huntington Avenue. Reiskind said he was unsure whether the person was assigned a caseworker or taken to a mental facility near Bridgwater.
The other incidents that Reiskind detailed were:
• A 17-year-old boy was arrested on March 10, at approximately 8:47 p.m, after members of the police’s Youth Violence Strike Force noticed he was pinning his right arm to his waist area when walking from Jackson Square train station. They did a “pat frisk” and discovered a .40 caliber Ruger on him.
• On March 11, at 9:24 a.m., the glass front door of a 7-Eleven was shattered by a frequent shoplifter after being asked to leave.
• Egleston Square had multiple incidents, including aggravated assaults, sick assists and alleged arson.
• On March 10, at 8:38 p.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop in front of Extra Space Storage, where the suspect charged at the car toward the officer and fled the area after being found with an inactive license. The car was later found abandoned.
• On March 12, at 11:23 a.m, a suspect made threats with a hammer at a cellphone store along 1951 Columbus Ave.
• On March 24, at 12:15 p.m, at Lucky Boston Chinese, a customer came into the restaurant and struck another customer with a wooden stick. He fled the scene before police arrived.
• On April 4, at 6:37 a.m., residents reported arson when a group of teenage males allegedly set fire to a garbage pail outside the building at 7 Dixwell St.
This story is part of a partnership between The Independent Newspaper Group and Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.