Prosecutor: MBTA Operator Hired Attacker So He Could Get Workers' Comp.

BOSTON (CBS) -- An MBTA trolley operator accused of hiring someone to attack him while on the job so he could receive workers' compensation pleaded not guilty to all related charges at his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court Tuesday.

Thomas Lucey, 46, of Saugus, was operating a trolley on the Mattapan line when a man wearing dark coveralls, a mask and carrying a plastic pumpkin pulled him out of the trolley and repeatedly punched him, police said back in 2016.

In court, prosecutor Cailin Campbell said, "The defendant staged an assault and filed false claims related to this assault all so he could get paid for not working."

She added that Lucey has not returned to work since the attack and had collected $30,561.72 in workers' compensation up until his indictment. Since applying for long-term compensation a few months ago, he had collected thousands more under two different policies.

When the crime was traced back to a friend of Lucey, the man told Transit Police that Lucey paid him $2,000 to carry out the attack.

Lucey was arraigned on charges of workers' compensation fraud, misleading a police investigation, perjury for allegedly paying an associate to assault him in an effort to obtain fraudulent workers' compensation benefits, and two counts of insurance fraud. He went then released on bail.

As a part of his release, Lucey must surrender his passport.

His trial date is December 17.

In:
• Lisa Gresci