BOSTON — An off-duty Boston Police officer was convicted in the racially motivated assault of a Revere man working as an Uber driver, and of briefly driving away in the vehicle of a second driver who intervened on his behalf.
A Suffolk Superior Court jury returned a guilty verdict against Michael Colin Doherty, 43, on two counts of assault and battery for striking the 28-year-old man on Jan. 4, 2015, according to a statement from Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.
“The defendant’s conduct that night was reprehensible,” Conley said. “His words and actions have no place in civilized society. They represented a crime against the victims, who were doing nothing more than trying to work for a living, and they were a slap in the face to countless police officers who work hard every day to earn the community’s trust with honor and professionalism.”
Jurors also convicted Doherty 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.
“Racially-motivated violence by anyone, sworn or civilian, will be investigated and prosecuted, and no one should ever be afraid to report it,” said Conley.
Doherty is expected to face sentencing on April 17.