Cambridge taxi driver held on $20,000 bail on indecent assault and battery, kidnapping charges

BOSTON, September 15, 2022 — A Cambridge taxi driver is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail after being charged with sexually assaulting a woman Saturday morning at an MBTA station parking lot in Revere, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

BEREKET MESHESHA, 44, is charged with indecent assault and battery and kidnapping.  At his arraignment Monday in Chelsea District Court, Assistant District Attorney Liana LaMattina requested $50,000 bail and a stay away order from the victim.  Judge Jane Prince set bail at $20,000, allowed the stay away and ordered Meshesha to surrender his passport.

On September 10 at about 3:50 a.m., MBTA police responded to a sexual assault in progress at the Beachmont station parking lot.  They found Meshesha standing outside the rear driver’s side door of his cab, with the victim in the back seat.  A witness told police he had earlier seen the victim slumped in the back seat and Meshesha touching the victim above the waist.  The witness said Meshesha then drove away, and returned shortly after.  The witness then saw Meshesha touch the victim below the waist, and called police.

The victim was transported to a hospital. Meshesha admitted to picking the victim up outside a Boston nightclub at about 2:30 a.m.

Meshesha will return to court October 14 for a pre-trial hearing. 

“Our office will give this victim all the support and services she needs to move forward through the process of holding this person accountable for his actions.  These cases are always difficult for those who have been assaulted.  We’re committed to standing with this victim and all victims every step of the way,” Hayden said.

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications