3 Charged In Armed Moped Robbery In Boston

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Boston has seen an increase in armed robberies and other violent crimes involving mopeds.

By Benjamin Pierce, Patch Staff

Sep 23, 2026 2:09 PM EDT

BOSTON, MA — Three people are facing charges in connection with an armed robbery involving two mopeds in Dorchester last month, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced.

Yunior Mota-Moreno, 20, Miguel Espinal-Hernandez, 19, and a 15-year-old juvenile have all been charged in connection with the robbery. Mota-Moreno was charged with masked armed robbery last week in West Roxbury Boston Municipal Court, while arrest warrants have been issued for Espinal-Hernandez and the juvenile, prosecutors said.

Judge John Garland released Mota-Moreno on personal recognizance and ordered him to have no contact with the victim or his co-defendants. He is due back in court on Monday, Oct. 26, for a pre-trial hearing.

Boston police responded at approximately 9:10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1, to the Franklin Field Golf Course near 86 American Legion Highway for a report of an armed robbery. The victim told officers she was walking in the park when two mopeds, each carrying two people wearing masks, approached and began circling her, according to prosecutors.

One person, identified by investigators as the 15-year-old juvenile, reportedly got off the back of one of the mopeds and slapped the victim in the face with an open hand. The juvenile then lifted his shirt and displayed what the victim believed was a firearm in his waistband before taking an iPhone from her pocket, prosecutors said. Both mopeds subsequently fled the area.

Investigators later identified an address on Wakullah Street in Roxbury as being connected to several moped-related robberies and used previous police body camera footage associated with the property to link vehicles there to the Franklin Field robbery, according to prosecutors.

Police also reviewed surveillance footage from surrounding areas to track the movements of the two mopeds before, during, and after the robbery. Investigators reportedly continued tracking the four people in the hours after the incident until they were seen without masks.

Police then used geolocation data, surveillance footage, social media posts and distributed photographs to identify three of the four people as Mota-Moreno, Espinal-Hernandez and the 15-year-old juvenile, prosecutors said.

On Friday, Sept. 4, Boston police located the two mopeds believed to have been used in the robbery near the intersection of Washington Street and Columbus Avenue in Roxbury, with two people riding on each. Police attempted to stop the mopeds before the operators fled, according to prosecutors.

Mota-Moreno reportedly fell from the back of one of the mopeds and was subsequently arrested. The other three people fled the area.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Boston has seen an increase in armed robberies and other violent crimes involving mopeds and scooters, particularly in the Roxbury and Mattapan neighborhoods.

"We are well aware of the increase in criminal incidents involving mopeds and scooters," Hayden said. "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."