BOSTON — A man allegedly sexually assaulted a woman on a crowded MBTA Green Line trolley during the evening rush. He left his DNA behind.
When police caught him, he gave them a fake name.
His fingerprints gave them the real one — along with an outstanding warrant for fentanyl trafficking and a five-year trail of a man who skipped bail and vanished.
Jose Ramon Mota was arraigned Tuesday morning at Boston Municipal Court on charges of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older and providing false identification to law enforcement, according to court records. Both charges stem from the April 15 incident aboard an MBTA Green Line B-line trolley between Arlington and Babcock stations.
But the charges he picked up on the train aren't the only problem Mota is facing. When Transit Police ran his prints at booking, they discovered he was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant for fentanyl trafficking out of Suffolk Superior Court — and had been a fugitive for nearly five years.
Five years on the run from a fentanyl trafficking indictment, and this is how it ends — a fingerprint scan at a transit police booking desk.
How they found him
MBTA Transit Police had been hunting for the suspect since April 15, when a rider reported that a man committed a lewd act on the trolley during the evening rush and left DNA behind at the scene.
On May 2, Transit Police released a surveillance photo of the suspect and asked the public for help identifying him. Mass Daily News published the image the same day, and the story circulated widely.
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The tip worked. The next day, May 3, Transit Police detectives identified and arrested Mota at Park Street station.
He didn't make it easy. According to Transit Police, Mota provided a false name at booking. It was his fingerprints that gave him up — revealing both his real identity and the outstanding Suffolk Superior Court warrant for trafficking fentanyl.
— MBTA Transit Police (@MBTATransitPD) May 5, 2026**UPDATE: 5/3 #MBTA Park Street-Outstanding TPD detective work led to the identification & arrest of SP. He provided a false name at booking; his fingerprints revealed his true ID and displayed he had a Trafficking Heroin arrest warrant out of Suffolk Superior Court.
What he is facing
Mota was arraigned at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Room 17 at BMC Central on two charges:
- Indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older (felony, c.265 S13H) — date of offense April 15, 2026
- Giving false identification to law enforcement (misdemeanor, c.268 S34A) — date of offense April 15, 2026
Arraignment
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Mota was arraigned Tuesday morning at BMC Central (2601CR001780) before Judge James W. Coffey. He pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and battery and giving false identification to law enforcement.
Judge Coffey ordered Mota held on $5,000 cash bail and committed to Suffolk County Jail. He was ordered to stay away from the victim and have no contact with any witnesses.
The heroin trafficking case caught up with him too. Court records show Mota was arrested in August 2018 and charged with trafficking 200 grams or more of heroin, morphine, or opium. He was initially held on $20,000 cash bail at BMC Roxbury with his passport surrendered to Boston Police. A grand jury indicted him in October 2018, moving the case to Suffolk Superior Court.
That case was still open when Transit Police arrested him at Park Street seven years later. The Commonwealth filed a motion to revoke Mota's bail on the trafficking docket. Judge Coffey allowed it. A bail revocation warning was issued, set to expire July 2, 2026.
In other words: a man indicted for trafficking 200-plus grams of heroin was walking around Boston with an outstanding warrant, committed an indecent assault on a crowded Green Line trolley, gave police a fake name, and only got caught because his fingerprints connected the dots.
His next court date is a pre-trial hearing on June 5 at 9 a.m.
Court documents:
Transit Police credited "outstanding TPD detective work" for the identification and arrest.
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