FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

Boston Cop Filed Fake Police Report in Elaborate Plot to Avoid Firing: Officials

Officer James Clark filed the report to help a bus driver who missed his shift, an ethics report concluded.

A Boston cop created a fake police report in a ridiculously elaborate scheme to help his best friend’s brother avoid getting fired, the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission found. Officer James Clark created the fake complaint in July 2016 after the brother, a bus driver for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, turned up late for work. The driver told his bosses that he’d been falsely arrested on the way to work when he’d actually overslept. The police report filed by Clark said that the driver was arrested for battery and assault, and it used a fake name for the officer who filed it. The driver resigned from his job when MBTA learned that the report was fake. The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission said that Clarke broke the law by using his position to secure privileges and benefits for others.