Annie Dookhan Can Get You Out of Jail, But She Can't Keep You There

Boston Police have said they’ll be watching to make sure any prisoners released because of lab chemist Annie Dookhan’s alleged mishandling of evidence are caught if they return to their criminal ways. Sometimes, the released prisoners make the cops’ job almost criminally simple by, oh we don’t know, flagrantly violating open container laws in a McDonald’s while carrying illegal drugs.

Such was the case last night when Chelsea Police responded to reports that a Jonathan Vaughan, 26, was drinking a Natural Ice beer in a McDonald’s in Bellingham Square and refused to leave. According to the DA:

When escorted out by responding Chelsea Police, Vaughan allegedly exclaimed, “I just got out on Annie Dookhan and I ain’t going back to jail.”  Vaughan allegedly began thrashing violently against the officers holding him before being restrained. During an inventory of his belongings, the officers recovered eight baggies of suspected crack cocaine packaged for individual sale.

Amid fears that the mass release of prisoners would result in a crime spike, Commissioner Edward F. Davis told the Globe last year, “I can tell you this: People who start to reoffend come to our attention very quickly.” In this instance, it seems, truer words were never spoken.