Boston Man Faces Firearm Charges Following Arrest in Mozart Park

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A Roxbury man was arraigned in Roxbury Municipal Court Thursday on firearm charges after Boston police arrested him in Mozart Park in Jamaica Plain Wednesday night, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Emmanuel Pena, 18, of Roxbury, was arrested following a non-fatal shooting that took place on Centre Street Wednesday afternoon in Jamaica Plain, and faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and carrying a loaded firearm.

Pena allegedly told police after his arrest that he knew of the shooting earlier that evening and that he had been friends with the intended victim.

“If his intent was to retaliate for that earlier shooting, then Boston Police may well have saved a life when they made this arrest,” Conley said in a statement.

Pena was arrested while in Mozart Park, where Boston police officers patrolled after the reported shooting on Centre Street. Around 8:20 p.m. that evening, they found six males in the park who scattered when they saw police approach. Five members of that group, though, walked toward police while the sixth, whom police identified later as Pena, “put his hand to his waist as he turned to walk in the opposite direction,” according to Conley’s statement Friday.

Authorities believe that Pena, after approaching a fence in the park, reached into his waistband and removed a firearm, which he then allegedly tossed over the fence into a Preising Street yard, where officers later found a silver Smith & Wesson Airweight .38 revolver, loaded with five rounds of ammunition. Pena was arrested on scene without incident.

Assistant DA Caitlin Fitzgerald requested a bail of $10,000 on Thursday and that Pena be ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device and abide by a curfew, as well as stay away from the area at which the shooting took place. Judge Kenneth Fiandaca ultimately imposed a $5,000 bail and the aforementioned conditions, according to Conley on Friday.

Pena, who is being represented by Attorney Christopher Belezos, returns to court on Nov. 26.