A man was arrested in connection to a stabbing in Boston on Friday night.
Boston Police say they responded to a report of a person stabbed at 474 Massachusetts Avenue at around 2:48 p.m.
Authorities say they found a man suffering from multi…
post
Man injured after scooter struck by box truck in Chelsea
A man was seriously injured after a scooter was struck by a box truck in Chelsea, Massachusetts on Saturday morning.
Chelsea Police say they responded to a report of a crash at around 6:15 a.m.
Authorities say they rendered first aid to a 31-year-old man from Chelsea who was driving the scooter.
The man suffered life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital.
The truck and the scooter were traveling to Everett at the time of the accident, according to police.
The truck driver remained on scene and is cooperating with police.
The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed.
Stash’s Pizza owner sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for forced labor
The owner of a Boston pizza chain has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison after being convicted on forced labor charges, the Boston Globe reported Friday.
A jury determined this summer that Stash’s Pizza owner Stavros “Steve” Papantoniadis, 49, of Westwood, mistreated six of his employees, either forcing them or trying to force them to meet excessive demands through physical abuse, threats of violence and harm, and deportation.
Papantoniadis was convicted on June 7 of three counts of forced labor and three counts of attempted forced labor.
The Globe reported that a judge sentenced Papantoniadis Friday to eight and a half years in federal prison, followed by a year of supervised release; a fine of $35,000; and restitution to his victims.
His attorneys said they intend to appeal and are seeking a new trial, according to the newspaper.
The trial came after a lengthy investigation into complaints against Papantoniadis, who was arrested in March 2023. The case highlights the issue of workers’ rights, particularly those who do not have an immigration status.
Officials said Papantoniadis would purposely employ workers without immigration status to work behind the scenes, forcing them to work 14 hours or more and as many as seven days a week. According to the case presented in court, Papantoniadis thinly staffed his pizza shops and monitored workers with surveillance cameras.
This case centered around his treatment of six employees — five men and one woman. Prosecutors said he threatened to harm them or have them deported if they did not meet his demands.
In one instance detailed in the case, when he learned an employee intended to quit, he violently choked him, investigators said. When other employees voiced the desire to quit, he told one that he would kill him and call immigration authorities; in another instant, he threatened the worker by telling him he knew where he lived. When another worker tried to leave one of Papantoniadis’ shops, he allegedly chased the victim down Route 1 in Norwood and falsely reported the victim to police to pressure him into continuing work at the shop.
“Stavros Papantoniadis instilled fear in his employees. He underpaid and threatened them, some with fear of arrest and many with physical abuse. Today, the jury saw the indignities his employees were subjected to and have found Papantoniadis guilty of forced labor violations,” said Michael J. Krol, special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in New England.
This case is not the first time Papantoniadis faced scrutiny for labor practices. The U.S. Department of Labor first filed suit in March 2017 against Stash’s Pizza, Boston Pizza Co., and Weymouth Pizza Co and owners Stavros “Steve” Papantoniadis and Polyxeny “Paulina” Papantoniadis. The suit alleged that the defendants failed to pay proper overtime to 120 employees, misrepresented employees’ pay rates, and falsified time records between November 2013 and March 2016.
In 2018, the department obtained an injunction from the court to halt violations that continued to occur after the lawsuit’s filing and enjoin the defendants from retaliating against employees and former employees and instructing them to lie to or not speak with WHD investigators. The Department’s representatives visited each restaurant and read the injunction in the workers’ native languages to ensure they understood the injunction’s protections and their right to speak to the Department about workplace conditions.
In 2019, the business owners were ordered to pay more than $300,000 in back wages.
And after that, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office received has received three complaints since 2019 against Stash’s Pizza, over wage and hour violations.
There are both state and federal laws in place to protect all workers, regardless of immigration status.
Resources
Members of the public who believe they are a victim of labor trafficking or have information about labor trafficking, can call 888-221-6023 or email USAMA.VictimAssistance@usdoj.gov.
Mass COSH can be reached by phone at 617-825-SAFE(7233)
Greater Boston Legal Services: 617-371-1234
Boston Worker Empowerment Cabinet 617-918-5248 workers@boston.gov
Police investigation shuts Plymouth’s Main Street
Main Street in downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts, is shut for a police investigation Friday night, the department said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what led police to urge the public to avoid the area, or if anyone was hurt, but police s…
New details on then-Billerica officer’s alleged sexual assault of girl, 15
The former Billerica police officer accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenager and asking her for a sexually explicit image appeared in court Friday, where prosecutors revealed more about the allegations against the man.
Alexander Allen, who resigned from the Billerica Police Department in December and was suspended by Massachusetts’ officer-certifying POST Commission earlier this month, was ordered held on $5,000 bail and told to stay away from Billerica and have no contact with children besides his own two kids, among other conditions. He pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said in Middlesex Superior Court he spent time getting to know the alleged victim and her family before having oral sex with her in Middlesex County before her 16th birthday.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
The girl “was vulnerable and susceptible to an older man taking advantage of her loneliness and depression,” a prosecutor said, adding, “he began to comfort her, drive her places, take her places, became friendly with her parents.”
After the alleged sexual encounter, the two kept messaging, and Allen would request naked photos and videos of the girl, which she sent, prosecutors said. Investigators found one explicit image of the girl, then 17. And the prosecutor said there was evidence on phones they looked at “that the defendant, after being notified of this investigation, deleted items from his cellphone.”
Allen’s lawyer noted that he lives with his wife and kids in Vermont and “didn’t run from those allegations,” instead speaking about them to the police chief at the time without a lawyer present, at which point he denied the allegations.
Allen was due for another hearing Nov. 13.
Prosecutors have said that Allen told another officer that he had an intimate relationship with the teen, leading to the investigation.
Billerica police have said they first learned of the allegations against Allen on Dec. 3, 2023, and immediately launched an internal affairs investigation. He was placed on leave on Dec. 5 and resigned on Dec. 18, 2023. He had worked for the department since 2018.
A second officer, who has not been named, was also placed on administrative leave in the case, over an investigation into possible violations of departmental policy, according to police.
Under the the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission’s suspension, Allen was required to surrender anything that’s part of law enforcement work, such as his police-issued weapon, uniform and badge. He has a right to appeal.
The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office has said that the charges stem from a sexual relationship Allen had with a 15-year-old girl while he was working as a Billerica police officer in 2023.
Woman with high-risk pregnancy missing over 3 weeks, Quincy police say
A woman who is 32 weeks pregnant and in a high-risk pregnancy remains missing, Quincy, Massachusetts, police said Friday.
Pierina Fernandes, 34, was last seen the afternoon of Oct. 2 in downtown Boston, police said. She was reported missing f…
