Three charged in August moped armed robbery
BOSTON, September 15, 2026 – Three people including a juvenile have been charged for a moped-related armed robbery last month on American Legion Highway in which they assaulted the victim and stole her cellphone, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
YUNIOR MOTA-MORENO, 20, was charged last week with masked armed robbery in West Roxbury BMC. Judge John Garland released Mota-Moreno on personal recognizance and ordered him to have no contact with the victim or any co-defendants. Mota-Moreno will return to court October 26 for a pre-trial hearing.
Arrest warrants have been issued for MIGUEL ESPINAL-HERNANDEZ, 19, and a 15-year-old juvenile for their roles in the robbery.
At around 9:10 a.m. on August 1, Boston police responded to the Franklin Field Golf Course near 86 American Legion Highway in Dorchester for a report of an armed robbery. Officers spoke with the victim, who said she was walking in the park when two mopeds approached and began circling her. There were two people on each moped, and all four were wearing masks. One person, later identified as a 15-year-old juvenile, stepped off the back of one of the mopeds, slapped her in the face with an open hand, and lifted his shirt to display what the victim believed to be a firearm in his waistband. The juvenile then took the victim’s iPhone from her pocket, and both mopeds fled the area.
The Boston Police Department has seen a recent influx of armed robberies and other violent crimes involving mopeds and scooters throughout the city, specifically in Roxbury and Mattapan. Officers identified 24 Wakullah Street in Roxbury as being tied to several incidents of moped-involved robberies and utilized past body camera footage associated with the address to link the vehicles parked there to the Franklin Field robbery.
Officers used surveillance footage from surrounding areas to track the mopeds movement before, during, and after the incident. Officers tracked the four operators in the hours following the robbery until they could be observed without masks. Officers then used a combination of geolocation data, video footage, social media posts, and distributed still photographs to identify three of the four people as 20-year-old Yunior Mota-Moreno, 19-year-old Miguel Espinal-Hernandez, and a 15-year-old juvenile.
On September 4, Boston police located the two mopeds used in the robbery, each carrying two people, at the intersection of Washington Street and Columbus Avenue in Roxbury. Officers activated their lights, the moped operators fled, and one person, Mota-Moreno, fell from the back of one of the mopeds and was arrested. The other three people fled from the scene.
Hayden praised the “thorough and tenacious” investigation by Boston detectives and said the enhanced attention on moped and scooter crimes is a positive example of law enforcement recognizing community concerns.
“We are well aware of the increase in criminal incidents involving mopeds and scooters. Police and prosecutors are using every possible tool, including surveillance cameras and traditional investigative techniques, to not only identify and prosecute suspects, but to develop information on areas and addresses linked to this type of criminal activity,” 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. Our office handles more than 20,000 cases a year. Nearly 160 assistant district attorneys practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Boston and Chelsea Juvenile Courts and the Supreme Judicial Court. Our office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs for anyone encountering the criminal justice system. We are committed to educating the public about our mission and services while focusing on crime prevention to keep the residents, workers and visitors of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications