BOSTON

Carjacking suspect caught after quickly crashing vehicle

A Boston carjacking suspect police say was apprehended with the help of alert citizens has been ordered held on $50,000 bail.

Joel Cartagena of Woburn pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday to charges including kidnapping and carjacking.

Authorities say the 36-year-old Cartagena grabbed the woman’s hair on a street in the South End at about 3:20 p.m. Thursday and threw her into the passenger seat. He drove off but crashed a couple of blocks away. A civilian witnessed the crash and told nearby utility workers, who alerted an officer working a detail. The civilian followed Cartagena until police caught up.

The woman was treated at a hospital for minor injuries including a bloody nose and bruises.

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Governor names registrar of vehicles to Cabinet post

Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday named Rachel Kaprielian, the state’s registrar of motor vehicles for the past five years, to serve in his Cabinet as secretary of labor and workforce development.

Kaprielian replaces Joanne Goldstein, who said she was accepting an offer to become an associate vice president at Northeastern University.

ARLINGTON, Mass.

Suspected bank robber shot by police, another arrested

Police in the Boston suburb of Arlington say a bank robbery suspect has been shot and wounded by officers pursuing him and a second suspect.

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Arlington police said Friday night that 36-year-old James Riley of Quincy was being treated for serious injuries at a hospital. Twenty-five-year-old Shawn Bambuhew of Everett was arrested. Police said both are charged with bank robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Police said officers responded to a robbery call at Leader Bank on Massachusetts Avenue at 2:40 p.m. Friday. Witnesses gave them descriptions of the suspects and their car. Officers caught up with the men a short distance away on Brooks Avenue. Police said Riley brandished a gun at police, and one officer shot him.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.

Man killed while cleaning shellfish shucking machine

Authorities say a 35-year-old man cleaning out a shellfish shucking machine at a New Bedford seafood processing plant has died.

Emergency personnel responded to a call for an industrial accident at the Sea Watch International Seafood Co. at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

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Detective Capt. Steven Vicente told The Standard-Times that the victim “became entangled in a rotary turbine engine” while flushing out the machine. The fire department had to partially dismantle the machine to free the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

He was identified as New Bedford resident Victor Gerena.

An autopsy is scheduled and the death is under investigation.

— From news service reports


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