Undercover Officer Tackles Man Who Tried To Piggyback At MBTA Station

BOSTON (CBS) - A Waltham man is in jail accused of assaulting an undercover Transit Police officer. It happened around 11:00 Wednesday morning at the Park Street Station near Boston Common. "I tapped my card and realized there was a man coming up behind me pretty close," Officer Luis Feliciano told WBZ.

Surveillance video shows what happened next. A struggle broke out when the officer says 57-year-old Michael Cammisaro tried to push his way through without paying his fare.

What began with shoving and yelling led to a blow to Officer Feliciano's face. "During the struggle I took him down to the ground and took him into custody. All the while I was yelling out, police officer, police officer," he said.

The MBTA takes fare evasion seriously. So far this year, officers have issued more than 4,100 citations. Transit Police Department Superintendent-in-Chief Joseph O'Connor says the reason is financial yes, but as this incident proves, it is about safety too. "It is a strategy we call point of entry policing where we try to stop people at the fare gates before they get into our system and create other types of disorder in this case, this individual became immediately assaultive to our officer," O'Connor said.

Other than some tingling from being hit, Officer Feliciano is okay. He's thankful it was him at that fare gate and not another passenger. "He had no clue I was a police officer and I think he would've done this to anybody... to anyone who was walking and I think this puts them on notice that we're out there," Feliciano said.

Cammisaro would've faced a $50 citation for fare evasion. Instead, he's in jail facing assault and battery charges. He's set to be in a Boston courtroom on Thursday.