The man was arrested during the investigation into a shooting on Hyde Street in the Old North End, where stray bullets entered the apartment of a family with young children. There were no injuries.
Police searching for a red Ford Escape with out-of-state plates, a description of the shooter’s car given by a witness, found a car matching that description in the Macy’s parking garage downtown.
When the driver returned to the vehicle, police asked to speak with him. Officers said they smelled marijuana, and the man, later identified as Quincy Alexander, 28, of Brooklyn, said he had been smoking earlier.
Police obtained a search warrant for the car and found two handguns and 80 grams of crack cocaine. Alexander is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
In a complaint filed in federal court, it states that Alexander told police that the Escape was rented for him by his girlfriend “Lane Roberts.” Police spoke with the woman who rented the car, and according to the complaint she acknowledged renting the car for Alexander so he could take it from New York to Burlington.
The complaint does not give any insight into what the woman thought Alexander was doing in Burlington.
When contacted by VTDigger, Burlington police said that spelling was a typo, and the person who rented the Escape for Alexander was Elena Roberts, an attorney with the New York Legal Aid Society’s criminal defense practice in Brooklyn.
Roberts did not return multiple calls from VTDigger requesting comment. Her employer, the Legal Aid Society, emailed a brief statement saying, “Quincy Alexander is not a client of The Legal Aid Society. This matter has nothing to do with Elena Roberts’ employment at The Legal Aid Society or with any Legal Aid matter. Therefore, we cannot comment further.”
Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo, who spent nearly two decades with the New York Police Department, said in an email that he believes Roberts actions violate professional conduct standards.
“If a police officer rented a car for a convicted felon who used it to transport crack and guns, and the car was connected to someone shooting a handgun into an apartment full of children, I don’t see how the officer could maintain the public’s trust,” del Pozo said.
“As the criminal proceedings reveal more about what transpired and what was known by whom, I hope the legal profession takes any necessary steps to maintain public trust in the defense bar,” he added.
Alexander is currently being held at the Northwestern State Correctional Facility. The gun charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years, while the drug charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
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