A 43-year-old man is facing a slew of criminal charges after police say he crashed his car in the North End, threatened the other driver, and ran around the area brandishing a gun.
Paul Driscoll is charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing personal injury, trespassing, assault with a dangerous weapon, and resisting arrest, according to a Boston police report obtained by MassLive.
Boston police went to the area of 450 Commercial St. at 7:43 p.m. on Tuesday night after receiving a report of a person with a gun, according to the report. The call first came in as a two-vehicle crash where the driver of one of the vehicles shouted he had a gun and ran off.
The driver of the other vehicle told police he was trying to make a U-turn when Driscoll crashed into his car and left the scene, police wrote in the report.
A witness in the area who saw police flagged officers down and asked, “are you looking for the guy with blood all over his head?” and pointed them toward a water taxi shed. Officers eventually found Driscoll behind a barrier fence separating Battery Wharf from a Coast Guard base in the area. He was taken into custody after police saw him vomit up blood and told officers his back, leg, and ribs hurt. Driscoll also had a cut on his head.
Driscoll was taken to Tufts Medical Center.
Police later spoke to a witness who said they were working in the area and saw Driscoll leave his vehicle screaming “I have a gun!” before running off. Driscoll then fell in front of the Coast Guard Base, and the witness told police they saw a gun fall to the street, which Driscoll picked up and continued running, heading toward Battery Wharf.
Another person working in the area told police they chased after Driscoll for a few feet, at which point he wheeled around and shouted “I have a gun” while pointing the weapon at the person, according to the report.
A witness at the Coast Guard Barracks told police they saw Driscoll try to run onto the base and fail to gain access before he took off down Hanover Street, police said.
Officers spoke to another witness, who said Driscoll tripped on the staircase leading to his house and asked to be let in. The witness shoved Driscoll out of the doorway, police wrote in the report.
Two Coast Guard Front Gate officers told police they heard two “loud pops” consistent with gunshots, and saw Driscoll running toward them. When Driscoll saw the officers, he fell and told them not to come near him before running away in the opposite direction, according to the report.
Officers searched the area for a gun but did not find anything.
