No bail for man charged in alleged drunken carjacking, crash

LYNN – A judge ordered a Chelsea man held without bail after police said the man choked a stranger, stole the stranger’s car, then crashed the vehicle and fled the scene. Police reported finding the defendant in the stranger’s car, and asleep and smelling of alcohol. “I then attempted to wake the operator by knocking on the glass,” Lynn Police Officer Daniel Destefano wrote in a report. “I then realized the operator and the vehicle matched the Be On the Lookout description given by Lynn Control that was involved in a carjacking that recently occurred. The victim of the carjacking had just reported this vehicle stolen.”Jeffrey Galeano, 24, of 26 Broadway #2, Chelsea, was arrested and charged with carjacking, larceny of a motor vehicle; operating under the influence of liquor; leaving the scene of property damage; and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle; at 5 a.m. Sunday.Galeano was arraigned on the charges Monday in Lynn District Court where a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.A 22-year-old Salem man reported to police at 2:15 a.m. Sunday that he had dropped a co-worker off at his home then passed a man lying on the sidewalk by the Central Square MBTA station, according to court documents.The alleged victim told officers he was going to call police, but the man got up and appeared okay. The alleged victim allegedly offered the man a ride home, and he accepted and directed the alleged victim to the Common.”As they approached Market Square, the male grabbed him by the neck and started to choke him,” police said. “(The alleged victim) panicked and stopped the car and ran from the vehicle ? that is where he saw the motor vehicle drive away.”The suspect was described as a Spanish male with black hair, and wearing a red shirt and blue jeans.”He was wearing black-and-white sneakers, and he was drunk,” according to the police report.As officers spoke with the alleged victim, police received a report of an accident on Boston Street involving a driver and a vehicle matching the description of the suspect and the car reported stolen, according to the report.An officer located the involved vehicle – with Galeano asleep inside and the motor still running – behind a nearby building. Police noted Galeano smelled of liquor and could not stand on his own when removed from the car.The alleged victim identified Galeano as the person who had attacked him then stole his car, according to police.An attorney appointed to represent Galeano for bail arguments could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.Judge Albert Conlon accepted a prosecutor’s request to hold Galeano without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, according to court documents.Galeano is scheduled to return to court Sept. 23.