Cambridge man arraigned on multiple drug charges, fighting officers at arrest
BOSTON, July 1, 2025 – A Cambridge man is being held on $50,000 bail on nearly a dozen drug possession and distribution charges resulting from a drug transaction conducted in an Allston McDonald’s last month, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
DANTE STARKS, 42, was charged in Brighton BMC on June 18 with trafficking 200 or more grams of cocaine, distribution of a class B drug (cocaine) subsequent offense, possession with intent to distribute class B (Adderall) subsequent offense, possession with intent to distribute class B (ecstasy MDMA) subsequent offense, three counts of possession with intent to distribute class B (oxycodone hydrochloride) subsequent offense, possession with intent to distribute class C (clonidine hydrochloride) subsequent offense, possession with intent to distribute class E (naproxen sodium) subsequent offense, possession with intent to distribute class E (white pills with heart logo) subsequent offense, and resisting arrest.
At a June 25 hearing Judge Stephen McClenon found Starks to be a danger and ordered him held on $50,000 bail plus home confinement with GPS monitoring if released. Starks will return to court August 20 for a probable cause hearing.
Around 4:40 p.m. on June 17, Boston police officers were conducting surveillance in the area of Harvard and Commonwealth avenues in Allston, which is known to them as an area of frequent drug transactions. They noticed two men involved in an apparent drug transaction in the McDonald’s at 370 Western Avenue.
Officers followed one of the men, later identified as Sparks, toward a black car in the parking lot.
Officers then approached the black car, which remained in the lot with the engine running. An officer approached the driver’s side and identified himself. Starks immediately began to close the window. The officer held the window down and ordered Starks to get out of the car. Other officers announced themselves and were able to open both front doors. They repeatedly ordered Starks to get out of the car, but instead he remained inside and moved his hands so that he could not be handcuffed. Eventually they lifted Starks out of the car. Starks insisted that he did not do anything and that he did not sell any drugs, even though no officer had mentioned drugs.
Starks continued to resist outside the car. He pushed officers, refused to place his hands behind his back, clenched his pants pockets, and attempted to place his hands into his front waistline, the last of which caused officers to fear that he was armed. He jumped and kicked the car to throw officers off balance, swung his arms and head and spat at officers.
Eventually he was cuffed, brought to the ground, and pat frisked. Officers found $1,056 in cash in his pocket. Inside the car, officers recovered a brick of cocaine, a Louis Vuitton box containing $15,020 cash, a brown paper bag containing 15 plastic bags filled with round orange pills, a black digital scale, and other related items.
Starks has a lengthy record of convictions for like and similar offenses. Starks is currently on federal probation.
“This is a great example of alert police work focusing on the types of offenses, in this case drug dealing in a very public setting, that hurt our streets and our neighborhoods and our entire city. We not only want to be a safe city. We want our residents and workers and visitors to truly feel safe in the city,” 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