South Boston police-car bomber gets 15 years in prison

The homeless man who tried to blow up a Boston Police cruiser with a crude bomb in 2017 will spend at least 15 years in prison.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke found Asim Kieta, 45, guilty and sentenced the former Dorchester resident to 15 to 18 years behind bars plus five years’ probation on the charge of detonating an improvised explosive device, according to Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins.

Kieta, who had waived a jury trial, is convicted of detonating a propane-tank bomb near the C-6 police station in South Boston on Jan. 20, 2017, injuring three cops.

A police officer noticed the device when he saw smoke and fire coming from the side of the cruiser, police said at the time. Cops sealed West Broadway during the morning rush hour, and an officer moved the car just before the device exploded, scattering debris in the street, police said.

It then exploded again, injuring three officers, authorities say. All made full recoveries.

The cops at the time said Kieta had a “lengthy criminal past,” plus four restraining orders against him, the most recent requested by his sister. Kieta had been working as an Uber driver shortly before setting off the bomb, but the company had removed him for reasons it wouldn’t disclose.

Authorities said Kieta walked up to the cruiser holding a dark-colored bag with a wire visible on surveillance video. An MBTA bus camera caught Kieta returning to his car, and prosecutors said the suspect appeared to “look back” in the direction of where the device was left. The video also captured the license plate of a dark-colored Toyota registered to Kieta.

“This was an act of violence designed to inflict injury,’’ Rollins said in a statement on Friday. “Police officers have an incredibly difficult, and at times dangerous, job. They are here to help us and protect the community from harm.’’

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2S58zL7