A 38-year-old man is facing a fresh round of armed robbery charges after Boston Police say he held up three separate Dorchester businesses at knifepoint over the course of a single week in late August. John Kennedy was taken into custody on Westcott Street on Wednesday, and officers found he was already wanted on two active warrants out of separate Massachusetts courts.
According to the Boston Police Department (Official) on Facebook, District B-3 officers responded to a report of an armed robbery at a convenience store at 44 Norfolk Street on August 28, where a suspect robbed the store at knifepoint and fled with an undisclosed amount of money. That same day, officers assigned to District B-3 also responded to 124 Harvard Street for a separate armed robbery, where a suspect brandished a knife and fled with approximately $250. Three days later, on August 31, a third robbery occurred at 613 Park Street, where a suspect assaulted a store employee and fled with approximately $1,500, per the department.
Kennedy now faces additional charges of armed robbery and trespassing tied to those incidents, according to police. His arrest also cleared two outstanding warrants: one issued by Suffolk Superior Court and another from Lawrence District Court.
Outstanding Warrants
The account did not detail the warrant charges. Lawrence District Court issued one of the warrants, according to Mass.gov.
The strangulation charge alone carries serious weight under Massachusetts law. Chapter 265, Section 15D makes strangulation or suffocation a standalone felony punishable by up to five years in state prison or two and a half years in a house of correction, according to the Serpa Law Office.
Armed Robbery Carries Life-Sentence Exposure
Armed robbery is classified among the top-tier violent felonies in Massachusetts because it involves the use or threat of force with a dangerous weapon. Under Chapter 265, Section 17, a conviction can bring up to life imprisonment in state prison, with a five-year mandatory minimum when the crime is committed while armed with a firearm, per the H. Ernest Stone law office. Separately, the article provides no further legal detail about the warrant charges.
The potential state-prison sentences raise questions about whether Kennedy's case will proceed in Superior Court or a district court.
Bail Question Looms Ahead of Arraignment
One open question is whether Suffolk County prosecutors will seek to hold Kennedy without bail under a Chapter 276, Section 58A dangerousness motion, which allows prosecutors to request a pre-trial hearing for defendants accused of violent felonies including armed robbery and strangulation, according to the Law Offices of Daniel DeMaria. But that path isn't automatic: the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling in Agostini v. Commonwealth narrowed the standard, meaning armed robbery charges no longer automatically qualify as predicate offenses for pretrial detention — prosecutors must show individualized evidence of dangerousness rather than relying on the charge title alone.
The arrest involved Boston Police District B-3. District B-3 operates out of its station at 1165 Blue Hill Avenue and covers Mattapan, while District C-11 covers Dorchester, according to the City of Boston.
It remains unclear whether investigators suspect Kennedy in any additional commercial robberies along the District B-3 corridor. The case echoes an earlier Hoodline report on armed robbery suspects nabbed with a loaded magazine in Dorchester, part of a string of similar cases District B-3 has worked in recent months.
Anyone with information related to these robberies is asked to contact Boston Police through its anonymous CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting “TIP” to 27463.
