Jury convicts off-duty Boston officer of racially-motivated assault

A jury has convicted a police officer of a racially-motivated assault of a man working as an Uber driver.

Forty-three-year-old Michael C. Doherty is convicted on multiple charges including assault and battery after yelling a racial epithet to the driver.

Doherty was an off-duty Boston police officer when he took an Uber ride to South Boston. 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 the Boston Police.

Doherty has been suspended without pay since his indictment in April, 2015.

Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley called Doherty’s action a slap in the face to “countless police officers.” He will be sentenced in April.