A Boston police officer has been found guilty of a racially-motivated assault on an Uber driver three years ago.
A jury found 43-year-old Michael Doherty guilty Monday of two counts of assault and battery, one count of intimidating a witness and one count of use of a motor vehicle without authority. He was found not guilty on a charge of a civil rights violation.
Doherty was an off-duty Boston police officer when he took an Uber ride to South Boston in January of 2015.
He told the 28-year-old driver that they were in the wrong location before striking and chasing the victim around the car. He then stole the vehicle and drove off until a second Uber driver and the victim chased him down.
He used racial and ethnic slurs again during a second physical confrontation. Doherty fled the scene before police arrived and later surrendered to Boston police.
Doherty has been suspended without pay since his indictment in April of 2015.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said the decision "sends a strong and definitive message that police officers are not above the law."
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Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley called Doherty's action a slap in the face to "countless police officers."
Doherty is scheduled for sentencing later this month.
