Man accused of shooting Boston Police officer was arrested in Webster for drug trafficking in 2017

BOSTON — A 31-year-old Dorchester man accused of shooting a Boston Police officer in the chest on Monday night was previously arrested on cocaine trafficking charges in Webster in 2017, police records show.

Avery Lewis is facing armed assault to murder and a slew of other gun and drug charges after police said he shot the officer, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, in the area of Esmond and Bradshaw streets in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood around 9:30 p.m. Monday.

The unidentified officer, who has been with the department for about two years, was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Lewis was previously arrested following a SWAT team response and drug raid in Webster in 2017.

After a weeks-long investigation, on March 24, 2017, at 5 a.m., members of the Central Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council SWAT team and Webster Police officers and detectives executed a search warrant for narcotics at 15 Granite St., apartment 1 in that town, Webster Police said at the time.

When investigators entered the apartment, they found 30 grams of what was believed to be crack cocaine, and $6,000 in cash. Two children, aged 7 and 7 months, were in the apartment at the time, police said. The Department of Children and Families was notified.

Police said Lewis, then 24, who lived in the Webster apartment at the time, was charged with possession with trafficking a Class B substance, conspiracy to violate the controlled substance law, and distribution of a Class B substance within a school zone.

The outcome of that 2017 case was not immediately known on Tuesday.

Following the police officer shooting on Monday night, Lewis is also charged with assault and battery on a police officer, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, assault and battery with a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, trafficking of cocaine, and resisting arrest, according to the Boston Police Department.

He is expected to be arraigned in Dorchester District Court.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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