‘We have to stand up’
Dot crime surge prompts call to action
A Hub preacher is calling on Dorchester residents to rise up and “take back” the streets from gun-toting thugs in the wake of a murder of a family man yesterday and the shooting of a 4-year-old boy earlier this week.
The Rev. William E. Dickerson, pastor of the Greater Love Tabernacle Church, said the early-summer violence plaguing the city needs to be stopped.
“We have to stand up and take back our community,” Dickerson said. “We’ve seen a better time, and we can see it restored.”
He said the mother of the little boy shot Monday night at Harambee Park “is holding up well” as she keeps vigil at the boy’s hospital bedside.
“Her main concern is her son getting well,” Dickerson said. The boy is said to be stable at Boston Medical Center after surgery.
The boy’s shooting prompted a boost in patrols near the park, as well as a peace rally and a crackdown on unregistered motor bikes.
But the violence has yet to ease.
Yesterday, 36-year-old Nicholas Trotman was shot about 1:42 a.m. at 45 Olney St., police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A native of Trinidad, Trotman moved to Boston more than 15 years ago to play soccer, his family said. He lived in Dorchester, where he cut hair for a living and had a 13-year-old daughter.
“He’s the one to always make everybody laugh, no matter what time it is,” his brother Darren Trotman, 43, said at his aunt’s home in Dorchester, where family and friends gathered.
Trotman is the 21st person to be killed in Boston this year. Family said yesterday Trotman was a peaceful, family-oriented man, and they do not believe that his death was gang-related.
“We just ask that if anybody knows anything or heard anything that they reach out to the police or to someone that they know,” cousin Philly Laptiste said. “We want to know why, even if it’s the smallest bit of detail.”
Meanwhile, police yesterday raided what they called an unauthorized motorbike repair shop at 76 Kingsdale St., where they seized at least 18 motorbikes and an all-terrain vehicle.
It was part of the city’s crackdown on illegal bikes linked to Monday night’s shooting.
Darryl Smith, the assistant commissioner of Inspectional Services, said the bikes do not appear to be connected to the recent violence, but he did say investigators “are curious as to the ownership of some of the bikes.”
At least one was confirmed stolen, police said.
“There may be some indication that someone is working on these bikes or that it could be a chop shop for motorbikes,” Boston Police Special Operations Deputy Superintendent Thomas Lee said.
The building’s owner was fined $3,400 for violations including illegal the dumping of hazardous material, improper storage of trash, running an illegal nonemergency repair shop, and illegal parking.
Neighbors said the resident who ran the alleged enterprise is a “family man” who made minor repairs as a favor, or for a few dollars on the side.
They said police are wrong to train their focus on the bikes, a common means of recreation in the neighborhood.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1348855
