MBTA cop gives pal free ride to bypass nightmare commute Cruiser with lights flashing and siren blaring caught on surveillance video Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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BEN: IT WAS ONE OF THE WORST COMMUTES THIS SUMMER. IT MAY BE UPSETTING WHEN YOU SEE THIS STORY. MARIA: FIVE INVESTIGATES SHOWS A STORY OF A POLICE OFFICER USING THEIR CRUISER TO HELP OUT A FRIEND. THAT IS NOT ALL THAT HAPPENED. KATHY HAS THIS. REPORTER: WHAT IS EVEN MORE TROUBLING IS WHEN THIS ALL TOOK PLACE. WHAT HAPPENED ALONG THE WAY AND WHAT WE’VE LEARNED SINCE WE BEGAN ASKING QUESTIONS. LIGHTS AND SIRENS ARE ACTIVATED BUT THERE IS NO EMERGENCY. YOU ARE WATCHING AND UNAUTHORIZED FREE RIDE ALL ON YOUR DIME, CAPTURED ON SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OBTAINED BY FIVE INVESTIGATES. THE QUESTIONABLE CAR SERVICE TO THE MORNING RUSH-HOUR COMMUTE INVOLVES AN MBTA TRANSIT POLICE CRUISER, THIS COP WHO WA ON OVERTIME, AND HER FRIEND WHO NEEDEDA LIFT. OFFICER SHANNON MCCARRON WAS BEHIND THE WHEEL THAT DAY. YOU CAN SEE HER CRUISER LIT UP AS SHE EXITS THE EXPRESSWAY AND SQUEEZES HER WAY THROUGH THE TRAFFIC. MOMENTS LATER, A WOMAN BAILS OUT ON THE PASSENGER SIDE, AND HASTILY SCURRIES AWAY. >> WHAT YOU DO NOT SEE ON THAT SURVEILLANCE VIDEO IS WHAT WAS PLAYING OUT HERE THAT MORNING JUST A FEW MILES SOUTH OF THE CITY AT THE JFK-UMASS STATION. AN INBOUND REDLINE TRAIN HAD DERAILED AND HUNDREDS OF COMMUTERS WERE STRANDED. PASSENGERS WERE EVACUATED IN THE RAIN -- RAIN AND LEFT SCRAMBLING TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO GET TO WORK. >> IT IS UNPREDICTABLE. REPORTER: SERVICE WAS SHUT DOWN FOR DAYS. BUT THIS WAS A HEADACHE FREE EXPRESS TICKET TO THE CITY THAT DAY FOR OFFICER MCCARRON’S FRIEND. >> THERE WAS NO SERVICE. IT WAS COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. REPORTER: STEPHAN IS A REDLINED WRITER AND COCHAIR OF THE NBTA WRITER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE. >> I SHARE THE SENTIMENT AND FRUSTRATION OF ALL OF THE RIDERS WHO FIND OUT THAT THERE WAS AN EXPRESS LANE TRIP IMPROPERLY DONE. THE EXTRA DISAPPOINTMENT LEVEL IS BECAUSE IT IS A TRANSIT POLICE OFFICER. >> WAS THERE ANY EMERGENCY YOU KNOW OF? >> NOT THAT WE ARE AWARE OF. REPORTER: DO YOU THINK THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE? >> ABSOLUTELY. REPORTER: THE SUPERINTENDENT SAYS IT IS ESPECIALLY TROUBLING KNOWING OTHER OFFICERS HAD A TRUE EMERGENCY ON THEIR HANDS. >> IT WAS AN EGREGIOUS BREACH OF SOUND JUDGMENT. AND IT IS A REGRETTABLE INCIDENT. REPORTER: EVEN MORE CONCERNING IS THIS, RECORDS SHOW OFFICER MCCARRON SWIPED A BOSTON SCHOOL BUS ALONG THE WAY, DENTING THE BUS AND RIPPING THE MIRROR OFF HER CRUISER. THIS INCIDENT REPORT DOES NOT MENTION WHERE OFFICER MCCARRON WAS HEADED, WHY SHE WAS IN THE CRUISER WITH A LIGHTS FLASHING, OR THE FACT THAT ANYONE ELSE WAS ON BOARD. >> OFFICER MCCARRON? >> SPOKE TO SPEAK WITH HER AT THE START OF HER SHIFT. SHE DUCKED BACK INTO HER CAR AND TEXTED, BUT EVENTUALLY HOPPED OUT WITH A LITTLE TO SAY. >> THERE WERE PLENTY OF COMMUTERS THAT WOULD HAVE WANTED A RIDE LIKE THAT AND HELP WITH THEIR COMMUTE. WE JUST HAVE QUESTIONS AS TO WHY YOU WOULD USE A CRUISER AND HAVE LIGHTS AND SIRENS ON TO HELP SOMEONE WITH A COMMUTE. >> NO COMMENT. REPORTER: SHOULD A POLICE CRUISER BE USED LIKE IT IS A PERSONAL CAR SERVICE WITH LIGHTS AND SIRENS TO HELP SOMEONE TO GET TO WORK? >> ABSOLUTELY NOT. REPORTER: THE USE OF LIGHTS AND SIRENS IN THIS CASE VILATED DEPARTMENT POLICY. IN TRANSIT POLICE TELL US MCCARRON WAS NOT EVEN AUTHORIZED TO USE THE CRUISER THAT MORNING. SHE WAS ON OVERTIME AND SCHEDULED TO BE IN COURT, NOT ON PATROL. >> EVERY WE EXPECT TO GO OUT THERE AND GIVE THEIR BEST. OBVIOUSLY, THIS INCIDENT WAS NOT OUR BEST. REPORTER: OFFICER MCCARRON WAS SUSPENDED BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR THREE DAYS. HER CRUISER WAS TAKEN AWAY AND SHE WAS REASSIGNED BECAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT. AFTER WE REQUESTED MONTHS OF GPS RECORDS FOR HER CRUISER, TRANSIT POLICE OPENED ANOTHER INVESTIGATION AND FOUND EVEN MORE ISSUES. OFFICER MCCARRON WAS PLACED ON PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AND RESIGNED A FEW DAYS L

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