Boston Blotter: Boston's Not-So-Finest

A BPD officer has been arrested on drug-related charges. The officer, Jose Ortiz, has been on the force since 1986 and worked in the Back Bay and the South End.

Details on the arrest were murky at first, but Ed Davis' opinion on Ortiz was clear. His statement is chock-full of irate zingers, such as "Ortiz disgraced his badge and dishonored his brother and sister officers" and "Good cops don’t like bad cops."

And, if the allegations are true, Ortiz was a bad cop who "threatened to kill him and his family if he didn't pay more than $260,000 to drug dealers." It appears that Ortiz forgot which side he was on.

Ortiz was representing two drug dealers, and the FBI began following him on patrol as he took cash in small portions from his unnamed extortion victim. He's charged with attempted extortion and cocaine conspiracy, and he's being held without bail.

--As for the police officers who are doing their jobs, they rounded up some East Boston people who were "Drinking and Drawing," which means they were boozing while writing graffiti with a Sharpie. But was the graffiti any good?

--A guy lost it on a bus in Hyde Park. When a passenger stepped on his foot while getting off the bus, he shouted, "That's the last time you step on me!" He eventually pulled a knife on the passenger as they were getting off the bus. Imagine getting that angry every time you got stepped on or bumped during an ordinary T ride!

--Don't mess with Fritz! Now that's a good cop! And a good dog! Fritz the K-9 and his BPD master took down some juvenile perps. The officer saw five men running after one person and spotted a firearm. When the officer tried to stop Mr. Firearm and Mr. Firearm didn't want to, Fritz got involved, and two people were arrested. That's the great thing about dogs. They might bite, but at least they won't extort and become embroiled in cocaine conspiracies.

--A man was shot on Arlington Street last night. He heard a shot and started to run, only to realize he'd been shot in the hand.

--We got our Harvard University police log today. We love a place where things are so calm that, when officers are forced to investigate a funny smell, it's usually pot or burnt noodles. In fact, in one case, the reporting officer wrote, "Officers report the smell was burnt noodles and all is in order." Second to funny smells is the presence of suspicious persons at the Au Bon Pain. That seems perfectly normal to us.

All charges alleged until proven under law. Ortiz mugshot from BPDNews.