By Globe Staff

As Boston School police were arresting a 18-year-old Roxbury youth for allegedly bringing a handgun into East Boston High School, the teen issued a warning.

“Be careful,” Brendan Campbell allegedly said on Thursday. “There’s one in the pipe.”

According to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley what the teenager meant is that the .25 caliber Raven Arms police allegedly found in his backpack was ready to fire because one round was in the chamber.

In all the firearm was loaded with six bullets; the serial number was obliterated, prosecutors said.

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By John M. Guilfoil and Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

An East Boston teenager confessed to police that he strangled a long-time family friend in the victim’s East Boston home, doused him with a flammable liquid, and then set him on fire on Monday, a prosecutor said today.

Marco Tulio Flores, 17, appeared in East Boston Municipal Court today, where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder. He allegedly killed Jaime Galdamez, 28, who had fled his native El Salvador for a better life in the United States a decade ago.

According to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum, the murder was discovered Monday morning when by Boston firefighters rushed to extinguish a smoky fire in the basement of 877 Saratoga St.

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Byron Smith for The Boston Globe

A fire department investigator peered into the basement of 877 Saratoga, where a body was found today.

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Staff

Like many of his family members, friends, and countrymen, Jaime Galdamez fled the political and economic troubles of his native El Salvador for the promise of a better life in America.

Living in an illegal basement apartment, working in a restaurant, and sending money back home, Galdamez eked out an existence for nearly a decade -- until the 28-year-old's life was cut short this morning, under suspicious circumstances, in East Boston.

Boston firefighters responded to 877 Saratoga St. around 8 a.m. today. The small fire was contained to the basement, sparing serious damage for the families that live on the first and second floors, but as firefighters were making their way into the basement, they discovered Galdamez, lying in a bed dead, said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

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By Katherine Landergan, Globe Correspondent

An MBTA employee pinned a man to the ground at Maverick Station late Thursday night after the man attempted to snatch two purses from a Revere woman, MBTA Transit Police said.

Ira Lawrence, an MBTA inspector, detained Sean Snellman, 32, of Watertown in the incident, which happened at about 11:20 p.m., according to a Transit Police report filed in the case.

Lawrence, a Randolph resident who has been working as an MBTA inspector for nearly 20 years, said he had never had such a confrontation with a passenger before.

“I don’t really know what I did, but I just knew I couldn’t let him get away,” he said.
Snellman and an alleged accomplice, Brittney Grisolia, 20, both allegedly had knives in their front pockets. Both were arrested by Transit Police.

The 25-year-old victim told police she was waiting for a train at the Blue Line station, carrying two clutch purses, according to the police report.

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By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

For law enforcement in Boston and at Logan Airport, today won’t be spent celebrating Osama Bin Laden’s death – the focus will be on heightened vigilance.

Massachusetts State Police and the Transportation Security Administration, a federal agency created in response to 9/11, have more people on duty at Logan today than usual, said Phil Orlandella, spokesman for Logan.

Two of the four aircraft hijacked by Bin Laden’s terrorists departed Logan on Sept. 11, 2001 -- American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175. Later that morning, the terrorists flew the hijacked aircraft into the World Trade Center in New York City.

Orlandella said there is no specific information suggesting that Logan is drawing the attention of terrorists. Instead, he said, the goal is assure the traveling public that they are safe at Logan and to remind everyone who works at the airport to report anything suspicious.

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By Globe Staff

A 63-year-old North Reading woman was cited for negligent operation today after she stepped on the gas pedal and propelled her 2007 Ford Explorer into other vehicles stopped at Terminal C at Logan Airport today.

The woman was identified by State Police as Carol Guthrie. According to State Police and Logan Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella, Guthrie was on the upper level of Terminal C when she slammed into a handful of vehicles around 6:35 a.m.

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By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Staff

A single-family home in East Boston sustained serious damage Tuesday night when a basement electrical short circuit sparked a two-alarm fire.

No one was injured in the fire at the 2 ½-story wood frame house at 211 Havre St., said Steve MacDonald, a Boston Fire spokesman. The fire broke out at 9:08 p.m. and quickly spread to the main floor.

MacDonald estimated the damage at $200,000. Two adults lived in the house, and they will be staying with friends, he said.

A neighboring house, only inches away in the densely settled East Boston neighborhood, escaped damage thanks to the quick and aggressive work of firefighters, officials said.

Contributed photo

Boston firefighters in yellow survival suits recovered the body of David Mark from the Chelsea River in East Boston today.

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe Staff, and Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent

Only days after his parents made a tearful plea for help in finding their son, police identified a body found this morning on the shore of the Chelsea River in East Boston as the missing Albany, N.Y., man suffering from diabetes.

The body of David Mark, 24, was found by a passerby just before 8 a.m. on the shore of city-owned land between Urban Wild, a local walking park, and a commercial fishing business off Condor Street, near Meridian Street. Police said there were no obvious signs of trauma, and that an autopsy will be conducted.

Mark’s parents made emotional, impassioned pleas on Saturday and Sunday for the public’s assistance in finding their son, who had been missing since last Wednesday.

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Bill Greene/Globe Staff

Obama called for tougher standards and increased spending in his speech at TechBoston Academy.

By Peter Schworm and Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Speaking at a Dorchester high school today, President Obama called for a combination of tougher standards and increased spending to improve the nation's public schools and prepare students for a technology-driven world.

"A budget that sacrifices our commitment to education is a budget that sacrifices our country’s future," he said at TechBoston Academy, a pilot school that Obama praised as a national model for its rigorous coursework and "culture of effective teaching."

Greeted by screaming applause, Obama said schools like TechBoston are helping students from low-income families attend college, and said all children should be able to attend similarly strong schools.

“No child’s chance in life should be determined by the luck of a lottery,” he said. “Not in this country."

Standing before a blue background with the catch phrase "Winning the Future," Obama said too many students are dropping out of high school, or graduating without the necessary skills to succeed.

"That's not acceptable," he said. "The most effective way to create jobs in this country is to change those statistics.”

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By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

The owner of a schoolbus company that transports students in Revere, Chelsea, and East Boston is facing charges that he sexually molested one of his passengers, a 5-year-old Everett girl, authorities said today.

Sergio Lara, 53, was arraigned Thursday in Chelsea District Court where he pleaded not guilty to one count of rape of a child and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 16. Bail was set at $100,000 cash, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office.

According to prosecutors and Revere police, Lara allegedly sexually assaulted the girl on Tuesday while he was transporting her home from school. The girl reported the attack to her mother, who rushed the child to an area hospital and summoned police.

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