Late-night drama on Dartmouth Street ended in handcuffs on June 26 after Boston police say a 31-year-old Framingham woman stalked and threatened her ex-boyfriend outside a Back Bay restaurant.
According to the victim, the trouble had been building for a while. He told officers the woman had repeatedly called him and shown up at both his home and his workplace, and said that during the confrontation outside the restaurant she grabbed him by the neck and warned, “If you date another girl, I will kill you.” When officers returned to the scene, they say the woman turned combative and was taken into custody.
As reported by WHDH, Boston police were called just before midnight to the restaurant at 111 Dartmouth Street after the victim reported the confrontation. The station said the man told officers he had briefly dated Emma Hammond months earlier and that she had continued calling and appearing at the restaurant to threaten him.
How the law treats stalking and protective orders
Massachusetts criminal law spells out how stalking and criminal harassment are handled and sets penalties for repeated threatening conduct. The state statute for stalking appears in Chapter 265, Section 43 of the General Laws. Chapter 265, Section 43 treats certain patterns of threatening behavior as a criminal offense, and victims can also turn to civil tools such as an Abuse Prevention (209A) or harassment prevention order to block contact. For practical information on filing for those civil protections, see MassLegalHelp.
Police say arrest turned combative
According to WHDH, officers say Hammond flailed her arms, kicked two officers and spat in one officer’s face when they tried to place her under arrest. The station reports she then threatened officers while in custody, saying she wished she had a gun to shoot them and that she would “chop them into little pieces,” and that she later admitted grabbing the victim by the neck and said she was “just playing with him.” WHDH reported that Hammond faces several charges stemming from the incident…