Former MBTA Transit Police Officer Sentenced for Aiding and Abetting the Filing of a False Report Related to Assault of Homeless Man at MBTA Station

BOSTON - A former Sergeant with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Transit Police Department was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for aiding and abetting the filing of a false arrest report regarding another Transit Police Officer's assault on a homeless man at the Ashmont MBTA Station.

David S. Finnerty, 49, of Rutland, Mass. was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to two years' probation, with a special condition that he complete 150 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay a $500 fine. The government recommended a sentence of two years in prison. In May 2025, Finnerty was convicted on one count of aiding and abetting the filing of a false report. In August 2023, Finnerty was indicted by a federal grand jury.

"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," said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. "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."

"As law enforcement officers, we must be held to the highest of ethical standards, and Sgt. Finnerty blatantly ignored those standards when he shirked his sworn duty and tried to cover up an unprovoked beating of a homeless man by one of his fellow officers," said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Division. "What he did was a gross betrayal of trust."

Finnerty was the Officer in Charge for the overnight shift on July 27, 2018, and the supervisor of Transit Police Officer Dorston Bartlett. At 1:47 a.m. on July 27, 2018, at the Ashmont MBTA station, Bartlett, while acting in his role as an officer, physically assaulted a homeless man without legal justification - striking the victim in the leg three times with a steel, expandable police baton. Only after the victim reported the assault to local police, did Bartlett arrest the victim.

During the booking process, the victim repeatedly told Finnerty about the assault, and shortly thereafter, Finnerty watched videos of the incident several times with two other transit police officers. Although the two other officers knew that Bartlett used excessive force on the victim upon watching the videos, Finnerty claimed that he did not see enough video to make that determination.

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 coverup Bartlett's unconstitutional use of force.

First, Finnerty reviewed Bartlett's initial draft of the report - which was clearly inconsistent with the radio calls and videos - and instead of telling Bartlett it was false, he told Bartlett to add more details. Then, when Bartlett's revised draft did not include enough falsehoods to justify the assault, Finnerty fed Bartlett more lies to include in the report - doing so via their cell phones so that the calls would not be recorded. Finally, still not satisfied with Bartlett's draft, Finnerty used his own computer to input changes to the report while referencing the Transit Police Department's Use of Force Policy.

The changes Finnerty made to the arrest report elaborated on falsehoods contained in the original draft and added additional falsehoods designed to justify Bartlett's use of baton strikes on the victim. The changes included the addition of facts that were obviously false based on the videos, including that the victim "jerked" his body, that he displayed "assaultive" and "resisting" behavior, that Bartlett "perceived a threat to [his] immediate safety" when he struck the victim with the baton and that Bartlett was trying to place the victim in custody at the station. Finnerty did not ask Bartlett whether the changes were true or accurate, because he knew they were lies.

Finnerty then gave his revised version of the report to Bartlett and closed the document on his computer without saving it - believing that there would be no digital trace of his crime.

U.S. Attorney Foley and FBI SAC Docks made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristina E. Barclay and Julien M. Mundele prosecuted the case.