Crime & Safety
State Senator Mike Rush Foils Beacon Hill Robbery
In a split-second while driving with a friend, Rush saw a suspect steal a cell phone, and then chased the man until he dropped the phone.
State Sen. Mike Rush and a buddy were able to foil a cellphone robbery on Wednesday night after seeing a man rob a woman on Beacon Hill.
"I was driving up Beacon Street and was with a friend of mine," said Rush, whose district includes Westwood. "We were at the corner of Beacon and Bowdoin streets. Straight ahead of us we saw an individual snatch something away from a woman and bolt as fast away as he could."
Rush said it was around 5 p.m., which surprised him of the thief's brazen act on a main Boston way.
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"We were pursuing him in the vehicle. Then he took a right into a dead end street that abuts the old Granary Burial Ground, we took a right, got out, and I pursued him on foot as my buddy called 911."
Rush, a lieutenant in the US Naval Reserves, said the adrenaline of seeing a robbery, forced him and his buddy into instanteous crimefighting.
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"The kid went up over a wall at the end of the street, a wrought-iron fence, I went up the wall at that point, as he was getting away," said Rush.
The suspect, who looked like a teenager said Rush, then either dropped the phone or decided to get rid of it.
Rush recovered the phone and was able to give it to the victim, Kathleen Joyce, the director of government relations for the Boston Bar Association, who Rush had previously worked with at the State House.
Said Rush, "I asked her 'what happened Kathleen?' She said he grabbed the phone while she was talking on it. I picked up the phone and I said 'I think this belongs to you.'"
Rush said this wasn't the first time he had witnessed a crime, "Years ago when I was a kid I saw someone getting robbed, when I was a little kid. That was probably the last time."
Asked about what made him spring into action, Rush said, "We both saw it at the same time and said let’s go. It’s a total adrenaline rush. It wasn’t broad daylight, but it was on a main street with a lot of hustle and bustle. It was obvious he had grabbed something out of this woman’s hand.
"All I could think of was my wife, my mother or my family and hope someone would do the same," said Rush.
As for Joyce, Rush said she got back on the phone and was OK.
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