Police rescued a man who had been forced to strip after an altercation at Central Square intersection
Green and Magazine streets in Cambridge’s Central Square. (Image: Google)
A naked man seen in Central Square on May 31 wasn’t streaking lightheartedly or bare on a dare – he was forced to strip as a form of shaming in what police are calling an unarmed robbery.
Police got a first call at 1:21 p.m. about “one male making another male take his clothes off” at Green and Magazine streets, according to scanner reports. That’s near a Subway sandwich shop and Star Variety minimart where five days later an unhoused woman was found with a stab wound to her lower back.
The naked man made it across a busy, car-clogged intersection where Magazine, River Street and Western Avenue converge and to the rear parking lot of a post office on Pleasant Street. Police went to meet him. “Officers found the victim’s clothing in a trash receptacle next to an MBTA bus stop, and they were given back to him,” said Jeremy Warnick, director of communications and media relations for Cambridge police.
Why was he naked? The victim had a verbal altercation with the other man, who then “reportedly forced [the victim] to remove his clothing,” Warnick said.
The suspect in the incident is Robert White, 43, of Boston, who has been identified as involved in possible drug activity in Central Square over the previous week, as well as “being associated” with two large fights, Warnick said.
White apparently left the area while police were locating the victim, talking with witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage; officers could not find him immediately afterward. They instead went to Cambridge District Court for a warrant on charges of unarmed robbery and disorderly conduct.
Spotted by officers back in Central Square the next day, White was arrested on the warrant at 2:56 p.m., according to Cambridge police logs.
While executing a warrant on White in 2020, members of Boston’s Citywide Drug Control Unit said they found him with 19 plastic bags of fentanyl, 14 of crack cocaine and some marijuana. When they searched his home in Dorchester, they found a 9 mm handgun that had been reported stolen from Miami four months earlier.
The council’s response? Defund. The mayor enjoys a good starlight photo op but does nothing and in fact makes all our work the more difficult. What failed in San Francisco does not need to be imitated here.
Patrick, please don’t say “the Councik’s response.” 2 councillors voted to cut the CPD budget. The rest of us voted against cuts.
we could use an honest conversation about Central Square and Harvard square post the break up of methadone mile. The population got much rougher with a much bigger criminal element. In general less respect for what Cambridge does. Services should come with rules and expectations. We need to be able to talk about this. The police and other street workers do incredible work but It is not a safe environment and in many instances we are enabling it.
Marc,
I heard two councilors stay firm for our brothers and sister in blue. You were not one of them. You didn’t vote to defund but between voting to give up an officers name and dancing around HEART it’s really discouraging for all us.
Anthony is 100% correct. We have enabled this and it’s beyond anyones control. That it happens in broad daylight should be a huge wake up call.
An honest conversation about “defunding” the police is long overdue. With a $78,000,000 budget, representing a $5,000,000 increase, why not take a close look at how police resources are being used. An effort to open up a conversation about a systematic reallocation of funds from the Cambridge police department to better-qualified social services and public health agencies should not be met with false and misleading comments about the “defund the police” approach to building a safe community. However, that being said, there should not be final minute budget amendments about this serious issue. An honest “defund” conversation should begin now, should take place throughout the coming campaign for City Council, and should help shape the budget for 2024/2025.
Anthony,
As we’ve seen during the past year, Zondervan and Siddiqui really don’t care to discuss, in an intelligent way, the problems. Unfortunately, it is going to take a tragic event before things change.
I have lived around central square for ~6 years and it continues to toe the line between too much chaos and great culture.
It makes me sad how much crime occurs in and around central. I do appreciate that the police is on high alert in the square, but it certainly feels like more structural change needs to occur.
Parts of the square feel anywhere from unpleasant to unsafe these days and I do worry about empty storefronts continuing to pop up (right now I can think of Starbucks, Mainely Burger, the old liquor store, artifact cider, off the top of my head). If central were to get even 10-20% more chaotic/unsafe feeling, I worry that things could spiral much more quickly than we realize.
Patrick, et.al,
We’ve been “having a conversation” about defunding the police at least since 2020 when George Floyd was murdered. Now we’ve seen the police kill someone right here in Cambridge. If you don’t think defunding is the answer that’s fine, but what makes you think that more money to the police is going to solve this problem? If they can’t prevent crime with $78,000,000/year in their budget, how much money will make it happen? The reality is that police cannot prevent crime and even they will tell you that. Over the last many decades in Cambridge, yes, I have reviewed the data, there is ZERO correlation between the size of our police force, which has stayed pretty much the same on a per capita population basis, and crime rates. Asking the police to solve this problem is absurd. Investing in HEART is exactly the right approach and is the most hopeful thing to come out of the conversation so far. You’re constantly accusing people of not being open to discussion but in fact we are the ones thinking out of the box and trying different solutions. You do know about this popular definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results…
Quinton,
We need to untangle your words before it is possible to provide a direct response and rebuttal to your comments. First, you have been having a “conversation” about defunding since 2020 correlating a murder that happened outside our borders and not involving our police force to draw a parallel based on your ideology and personal goals. No one else on the Council has been having that conversation though Siddiqui seems to have recently caught on though her timing seems more politically based than ideologically. Nolan has also floated this idea but she has also suggested in the same sentence that we “defund” the fire department … no comment. Now let’s talk about the substance of your comment; crime prevention. In my 15 years in Central Sq and prior to that the police have employed many strategies to mitigate issues around crime; tolerance, no tolerance, homeless court, community policing, and more. What hasn’t happened is a unified and coherent support from this council or the ones prior. Remember in 2021 when you rushed to the support of a registers sex offender who punched out two cops in Central Sq? I do and more importantly the police do as well. Remember in 2018 when we had live shooter at the Caribbean festival and the shooter was taken down without a shit fired by police? I do; but the council was very silent about that one. However much money you spend on policing is ripped to shreds by the uncertainty and constant undermining of our police force that you, Sumbul, Alana, Nolan, and occasionally McGovern continually sow seemingly to … score political points? Remember in 2020 when you attacked Bard and only Denise Simmons came to his aide? Money is part of the solution because our brothers and sisters in blue need support and are also people with families doing a job. However, without the support of the people and our elected representatives that money is significantly devalued. You talk about the definition of insanity often but please explain to me; your methods of defunding, demoralizing, and outright attack on our force has already been the blue print for disasters in San Francisco, New York, and Portland … so why embark on that which has failed miserably elsewhere? Isn’t that exactly your definition of insanity? The BID represents the culmination of capital (we call that money), trust, and people … which is why it’s so successful and why Central Square has not fallen. When you, Siddiqui, Mallon, Nolan, and others continually undermine and attack our police family you put us all in more danger. Truly isn’t selfishly posturing for political gain that most constant in this country? You have a habit of boiling issues to their least nuanced and declaring victory without effort or doing the work. Please for the sake of our dwindling police force, over worked ambassadors, and all who are tirelessly working to better manage an unmanageable situation just do the right thing and stop selling this family out for your own political assent.
Let me be very clear, because I have said this on countless occasions, I support our police department and believe we have one of, if not the best departments in the country. Are we perfect? No. The police themselves will tell you that, and officers who violate the public trust should be held accountable, as everyone should. But make no mistake, I support CPD. Is that clear enough?
Don’t confuse my compassion for people struggling with homelessness, mental illness or substance abuse, with not supporting police or not wanting them to do their job. They don’t want arrest those people either.
I have never said that the police shouldn’t arrest people who are dealing drugs or assaulting people. They should.
I have never voted to decrease the CPD budget, and in fact, have fought back against efforts to do so.
Finally, don’t confuse my support for HEART as being unsupportive of the police. The Police Commissioner supports HEART! We need as many supports and boots on the ground if we are going to put a dent in this issue, and HEART will help with that.
I hope this is clear enough.
Marc,
We do not need an autonomous organization trained by who knows not reporting to the police or City working on the streets. Further everyone knows cambridge isn’t a place for free or open speech. I’ll let our
Commissioner speak for herself. Instead internet fighting me stand up and stand out for our police. Get Central under control. Stop hiding behind “progressive” BS. Stop reducing the issue to its least nuanced like QZ. Stand for something.
Marc,
I get lippy with you because I still believe in you. I gave up on Mallon, Siddiqui, Zondervan, and Carlone years ago.
Patrick: your rhetoric is embarrassing and your posts are chock full of anger and misinformation. Get off the computer and go touch some grass.
There’s nothing special or exceptional about our police department – it was just a few months ago that they murdered a teenager! The amount of money and effort they spend doing public relations is very telling. It is reasonable to ask why they are getting a reflexive spending increase and nearly 80 million dollars in the aftermath of that tragedy.
We have to be real that Councillor Zondervan did not propose to defund the police department, he proposed a modest $5 million dollar cut that would have kept spending level at the previous year’s number and could have been accomplished by simply eliminating vacant positions. To those who did not support that amendment I have one simple question: are you comfortable owning the choice to give the police their reflexive increase while paraprofessionals were cut from the schools?
What people often miss about the abolitionist movement is that it is as much about building up as it is about taking away. How can we better allocate our resources to offer true support to vulnerable teens? Why did the council accept the move to cut paraprofessionals when we know that compared to classroom teachers they disproportionately come from the community and thus have an easier time connecting with students of color? More interesting than the fact that two councillors voted for a modest cut to the police budget is the fact that seven councillors saw the reflexive increase to police as more important than keeping bodies in our classrooms, mentoring our children.