A 34-year-old man is facing felony charges after Boston police say he tried to wrestle a Taser and then a service weapon away from an officer during a chaotic struggle on Massachusetts Avenue Sunday evening. Felix Omar David Marrero was identified as the suspect in the confrontation, which began as a call about open drug use outside a South End residence and escalated into a fight that spilled into traffic in the rain.
According to the NBC Boston report, officers were called to a private residence on Massachusetts Avenue after a group was reportedly using drugs at the entrance of the building. Police recognized Marrero from a prior encounter, but he allegedly gave officers a false name before they confirmed his real identity and discovered he had two outstanding warrants. The Boston Police Department's own account places the initial dispatch at approximately 7:03 PM Sunday, when District D-4 officers responded to the 690 Massachusetts Avenue address in the South End.
A Struggle That Spilled Into Traffic
When officers tried to take Marrero into custody, he resisted repeatedly, and the struggle moved into the street, the station's report states. Heavy rain and active street traffic compounded the danger as the physical altercation pushed off the sidewalk and into Massachusetts Avenue while officers attempted to restrain him, according to the Boston Police Department. Officers eventually got Marrero on the ground and called for backup.
That is when the confrontation took its most dangerous turn. Marrero allegedly tried to grab an officer's Taser, then grabbed the handle of an officer's gun in an attempt to take it, per the same account. Additional responding units helped officers pry Marrero's hand free from the weapon before he could be fully secured.
Warrants, Prior Arrests and a Lengthy Charge Sheet
At the time of his arrest, Marrero had active warrants out of Suffolk Superior Court for repeat drug offenses, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine and Class A drugs, as well as Boston Municipal Court warrants for distributing Class A and B drugs, according to the Boston Police Department. Department arrest logs also show Marrero was previously arrested in September 2023 on Huntington Avenue on a shoplifting charge under Massachusetts law.
In addition to the disarming-related charge, Marrero faces two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct as a subsequent offense, disturbing the peace, and receiving stolen property, the department said. He is expected to be arraigned in Roxbury District Court, which handles criminal prosecutions originating from Roxbury and adjacent parts of Boston's South End.
What Massachusetts Law Says About Disarming an Officer
Massachusetts treats an attempt to disarm a police officer far more harshly than ordinary assault on an officer. Under M.G.L. Chapter 265, Section 13D, assault and battery on a public employee that includes an attempt to disarm an officer carries a statutory penalty of up to 10 years in state prison, or up to 2.5 years in a house of correction, along with a fine of up to $1,000, according to the Massachusetts General Court. Standard assault and battery on a police officer without serious bodily injury, by contrast, is a misdemeanor under the same statute, punishable by 90 days to 2.5 years in a house of correction or a fine between $500 and $5,000.
The 600 block of Massachusetts Avenue sits near the Mass and Cass corridor at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, a stretch of Boston long associated with open-air drug activity and homelessness service providers, according to Boston University. That context helps explain why officers were initially dispatched to the address in the first place, responding to a complaint about drug use rather than a planned warrant sweep.
Not the First Time an Officer's Weapon Has Been Targeted
Sunday's incident recalls a similar Boston scuffle over an officer's gun from May 2025, when a suspect near Massachusetts General Hospital on Cambridge Street seized an officer's service weapon and accidentally shot himself during the struggle. Taken together, the two incidents illustrate how quickly attempts to grab an officer's weapon in Boston can turn physically dangerous for everyone involved.
It remains unclear what bail conditions, if any, Marrero will face following his Roxbury District Court arraignment, and police have not said whether additional body-worn camera footage from the responding District D-4 officers will be released.
