Though injured on the job (two nabbed), I still can write

A pleasant evening, a drive through Savin Hill, a great observation by my partner, Officer Dennis Rorie, two young men, one loaded handgun, one brief fight, a great response, two under arrest, one gun recovered, one broken right ring finger, one operation, two titanium screws and one plate later, and I’m sitting at home recovering for a couple of months. Oh, well, I might as well write …

Sept. 8, 2 p.m.

This little saga actually started five days earlier when my wife Kate and I were watching one of the local nightly news channels and they were doing a story on a crime wave that was going on in South Boston, which included several bank robberies that had occurred during the previous three weeks. The story also included still photographs of the suspect in the crimes. As soon as I saw these photos I told Kate that I believed the suspect to be a 30-year-old neighbor of ours whom we have known for the past 20 years. Fast forward to Sept. 8 and two of Area C-11’s finest were pulling into the parking lot of Mt. Washington Savings Bank on Gallivan Boulevard when a call came in that the bank was in the throes of being robbed.

As the officers entered the front vestibule, they observed two men wrestling with each other. One of them was a bank customer who was using a change counting machine and had observed the exchange between a bank teller and a customer who had handed the teller a note demanding money and no dye packs. The other guy was my neighbor. The teller had recognized the oversized-hoody-wearing suspect from exactly one week earlier when he had robbed the same bank and the same teller. The suspect was charged with four bank robberies and a false bomb threat (he claimed to have one strapped to his chest).

It’s a real shame. Back in early August I had spoken with him at our local corner store. He told me that life was good and things were looking up for him. Then he said “goodby,” picked up his three-year-old son and left the store.

Sept. 23, 7:55 p.m.

Officers from the Codman Square Safe Street Team observed two men on Washington Street arguing loudly. The officers separated the two and told them to go their separate ways. One of the men obliged and left. The other, a 46-year-old Dotwit, refused to leave or quiet down and instead he started yelling at passersby. Again the officers told the man to calm down and vamoose. He responded by saying that he wanted to kill somebody and that he had just gotten out of jail and he was ready to go back. So he got his wish. The officers arrested him for disorderly conduct and took him to the cheerful confines of District 11’s bed and breakfast.

Aug. 18, 11:38 p.m.

Officers responded to a radio call for a report of a shoplifter inside the Rite-Aid store on Gallivan Boulevard. On arrival they stopped a 30-year-old Dorchester man whose pants were stuffed with more than $1,100 worth of cosmetics that made him look like an overstuffed Bratwurst. The human pinata was charged with larceny over $250.

July 25, 3:33 p.m.

This is a first: Officers Tully and O’Sullivan were patrolling down Pleasant Street when they saw two local women beating the hell out of each other over a mutual boyfriend. The jealous gals were separated and one of them had a profusely bleeding wound around her right eye. This woman explained that as she was walking home from the grocery store with a couple of bags of items she was set upon by the suspect, who grabbed a can of Hunt’s pasta sauce and clocked her over the eye with it, splitting her skin open. The 24-year-old suspect was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, to wit: a can of tomato sauce!