Man in 2022 Boston shootout with police gets 15-18 year sentence
BOSTON, March 13, 2024 – A Randolph man who fled a March 2022 motor vehicle stop in Jamaica Plain and shot at pursuing officers during a foot chase received a 15- to 18-year armed career criminal state prison sentence today plus two years of probation upon release, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
JEFF ANILUS, 33, was convicted by a jury in January of two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (gun), possessing a firearm without a license and possessing a loaded firearm without a license. Judge Josh Wall today applied the armed career criminal finding and sentence based on Anilus’s prior drug and assault convictions.
Anilus received serious injuries in the gunfight with police.
On March 31, shortly after midnight, Boston police on patrol near Blue Hill Avenue and Columbia Road observed a Honda Civic driving the wrong way on a one-way road. They attempted to stop the car and the car sped off, and shortly after crashed into stone barriers along Jewish Memorial Drive near the Shattuck Hospital. Officers saw the driver, later identified as Anilus, retrieve an object from the vehicle and then flee on foot. Officers gave chase. In the Shattuck parking lot, Anilus turned and fired a shot at the officers, hitting a tree instead. The officers reported shots fired, drawing more officers to the scene.
After firing the shot Anilus ran into a wooded area behind the hospital. An officer searching the area saw Anilus lying in some brush, with a gun pointed directly at the officer. The officer commanded Anilus to drop the gun and show his hands. Anilus said he would surrender, but then ran back toward the Shattuck. He was spotted by other officers and ordered to show his hands. Instead, Anilus displayed a gun, at which point officers opened fire, striking and wounding Anilus.
Officers recovered the gun. It contained a high-capacity feeding device with 13 rounds.
Notably, it had jammed.
“This was quick, courageous and effective work by every officer on the scene that morning in a tense and chaotic and potentially deadly situation. This man’s actions that morning along with his prior offenses make clear that he is a threat to society and deserves the sentence he received today,” Hayden said.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications