Uber driver up next in assault case vs. cop
An Uber driver allegedly attacked by an off-duty Boston cop is set to testify today about the melee in Southie that ended with the officer taking off with his Prius.
Luis Blanco, who police say was assaulted by off-duty cop Michael C. Doherty while driving him home after a late night on the town, is expected to take the stand this morning in Suffolk Superior Court. Another Uber driver, Guillia- no Verna, who came to Blanco’s aid after Doherty drove off with Blanco’s car, is also expected to testify.
Doherty, who is currently suspended without pay, is charged with three counts of assault and battery, the use of a motor vehicle without authority and a civil rights violation.
Blanco says he picked up Doherty and a friend outside of Bricco in the North End shortly after 2 a.m. After dropping Doherty’s friend off in Charlestown, Blanco said, he was ferrying Doherty home to South Boston, when the off-duty cop lashed out, slammed the car into park, and got out of the vehicle, according to court papers.
Blanco called 911 and flagged down Verna for help — only to see Doherty driving off with his car. The two Uber drivers followed the stolen Prius to the corner of Farragut Road and East 1st Street, where Doherty got out of the car and allegedly fought with Blanco and Verna until police arrived. In the first day of Doherty’s trial yesterday, jurors saw surveillance footage from a nearby construction company that showed the two cars driving by and stopping at Farragut Road. Another video — shot by BPD AntiCorruption Division Sgt. Detective Courtney Matthews — showed jurors the route Blanco allegedly drove Doherty prior to the incident.
Matthews, the lead detective in the case who said he trained Doherty in the police academy, attested that he noticed Doherty had a cut above his right eye when he saw him later that morning, adding that he went with Doherty to the hospital to have it stitched up.
Doherty’s defense attorney Rosemary Scapicchio pressed Matthews over whether he saw Doherty’s black eye.
“He didn’t have a black eye,” Matthews said, as a color photo of Doherty was displayed for the court with a clear black eye and a sutured up cut above one of his eyes.
Scapicchio pointed out that sometimes it takes “hours or even days for the black and blues to come out.”
A bartender at Bricco said Doherty and his friend spent $181 on two bottles of wine and a prosciutto pizza.