BOSTON — An off-duty Boston Police officer was sentenced to three years of probation Tuesday for the racially-motivated assault of a Revere man who was working as an Uber driver.
On April 2, Michael Colin Doherty, 43, was convicted of two counts of assault and battery for striking the 28-year-old man on Jan. 4, 2015.
Jurors also convicted Doherty, who is on suspension, of assault and battery for purposes of intimidation, reflecting his use of racial and ethnic slurs during the confrontation, and use of a motor vehicle without authority for entering and driving several blocks in the victim’s vehicle. He was acquitted of violating the civil rights of a second man, who intervened in the conflict on the victim’s behalf.
During the trial, prosecutors said Doherty took an Uber from Charleston to South Boston, told the driver they were in the wrong location, and “used a racial epithet in the verbal exchange that followed,” according to the statement.
Doherty struck the victim, who exited the car to escape the assault, and then chased him around the vehicle. The victim flagged down a passing car driven by another Uber driver, and Doherty entered the victim’s Toyota Prius and drove away, prosecutors said.
The victim got into the second car and the two men followed Doherty until he stopped on East 1st Street and Farragut Road. Doherty continued to use racial and ethnic slurs in a second physical confrontation.
Tuesday, Judge Linda Giles sentenced him to three years of probation for the crime, According to a statement from Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
Conditions include 100 hours of community service at the Greater Boston Food Bank, random alcohol screens, complete an anger management program, and stay away from the victim and his family. If Doherty re-offends or fails to comply with any of the judge’s orders, she could re-sentence him to up to the maximum penalty – a five-year prison sentence for assault and battery for purposes of intimidation.
“The defendant’s conduct has no place in law enforcement, on or off the job,” Conley said in a statement. “It was an unprovoked crime against the victim, who was only trying to do his job, and it was a slap in the face to countless police officers who approach their duties with integrity and professionalism. As this indictment and verdict made clear, Suffolk prosecutors take these cases seriously. No victim or survivor of racially-motivated violence should ever be reluctant to report it.”
