Boston Blotter: Background Checks, Hello?

Remember the "Snowplow From Heck" (or "Hell" or "Hades" – your call) Blotter from a few days ago? The Globe unearthed the past of the snowplow driver who struck an old lady in a crosswalk and then fled the scene.

They found a litany of offenses showing that this city employee had no business being behind the wheel of that plow.

The city hired him in 2005 and assigned him to drive heavy equipment, even though his record was more than a little blemished. The record shows charges of past driving offenses, including not one, but five license suspensions of varying lengths. Oh, and he's been busted with drugs (including the hard stuff) and he has a case pending for assaulting his girlfriend.

If everything we hear is true, what an asshole!

And is the city so desperate for snowplow drivers that they will take anyone? Really, they could have taken anyone off the street, including maybe people who can't drive, and that random person would have done a better job.

Beyond the snowplow operator, who could take up a week's worth of blotters with his bad behavior, a 52-year-old man was shot early yesterday morning in Mattapan. He is now in critical condition.

BPD News has also posted that they found a body in Jamaica Plain Mount Hope cemetery early this morning. The body was above ground; hence, the BPD got involved. No further information was available.

Image of a snowplow doing what it's supposed to do – plowing snow, not people – from Flickr user Jan Tik. All charges are alleged until proven under law.