Former MBTA Transit Police Sgt. sentenced for covering up officer’s assault on homeless man
A former MBTA Transit Police sergeant was sentenced on Monday for helping an officer cover up the officer's assault of a homeless man at a Boston subway station in 2018, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
Rutland resident David Finnerty, 49, was convicted on one count of aiding and abetting the filing of a false report in May 2025, the U.S. Attorney's office said in a press release . A federal judge sentenced him to two years of probation, 150 hours of community service and to pay a $500 fine on the charge.
The charge stems from an overnight Transit Police shift on July 27, 2018, during which he supervised Transit Police Officer Dorston Bartlett, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Shortly after 1:45 a.m., Bartlett assaulted a homeless man "without legal justification" at the Ashmont Red Line station in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.
Bartlett hit the man in the leg three times with an expandable, steel police baton, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Only after the man reported the assault to local police did Bartlett arrest him.
While the man was being booked by Transit Police, he repeatedly told Finnerty he'd been assaulted by Bartlett, the U.S. Attorney's office said. The former sergeant also watched videos of the attack with two other officers multiple times.
Despite this, Finnerty claimed he did not see enough video footage of the incident to come to the conclusion that Bartlett had used excessive force, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
"Instead of immediately reporting Bartlett for excessive force and releasing the victim, Finnerty began an hours-long attempt to help Bartlett falsify an arrest report designed to cover up Bartlett's unconstitutional use of force," the press release reads.
Finnerty began by reviewing Bartlett's initial draft of the report — which was "clearly inconsistent with radio calls and videos" related to the incident — and told the officer to add more false details to justify the assault, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Then, still dissatisfied with the draft report, the former sergeant "fed Bartlett more lies" to include during a call on their personal cell phones — a medium Finnerty chose to prevent the call from being recorded, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
But even after this, the former sergeant found Bartlett's draft insufficient to cover up the assault and decided to alter the report on his computer, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Finnerty made the changes while referencing the Transit Police Department's use of force policy, making an effort to ensure that the falsified account provided a narrative in which Bartlett had not violated the policy.
The former sergeant added false details designed to justify the officer striking the man with the baton that were "obviously false based on the videos," such as that the man displayed "assaultive" and "resisting" behavior, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Finnerty then gave his revised version of the report to Bartlett and closed the document on his computer without saving it, thinking there'd be no digital trace of his crime.
A grand jury indicted the former sergeant in connection with the false report in August 2023.
"By falsifying a police report to cover up an unconstitutional assault, Mr. Finnerty betrayed his badge, the victim he was sworn to protect, and the public's trust. Instead of protecting a vulnerable man who had been abused, he tried to shield the officer who assaulted him," Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in the release.
"Our justice system depends on officers who follow the law, not those who violate it. Mr. Finnerty's conviction affirms a simple truth: no one is above the law, and those who abuse their power will be held accountable."
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