Tighter security greets Stones fans, keeps crowd from rafters

As the roar of their electric guitars vibrated the girders of the nation's oldest major league ballpark, the Rolling Stones played the second of their two sold-out Fenway Park concerts last night amid officials' concern about another fan-related incident like the one Sunday when a woman was injured in a fall from the right field rafters.

Last night, Boston police closely monitored the area where 20-year-old Claire O'Leary of Westport, Conn., climbed onto steel beams under the right field roof and fell about 35 feet, breaking both of her ankles and a wrist, officials said.

Concertgoers last night said that although security was noticeable, it was not obtrusive. Police reported one arrest at the end of the concert. A 20-year-old man, whose name was not released, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct. He was arrested at 10:15 p.m. at Brookline Avenue and Lansdowne Street, police said.

Before the show, a knot of about a dozen uniformed Boston police officers stood outside Gate C on Lansdowne Street, but they were surrounded by at least as many officers wearing suits or other civilian clothes, identifiable as police only by the badges clipped to their belts. Most only interacted with fans when directing vehicular traffic or closing surrounding streets prior to the concert.

Many fans were still shaking their heads at the risk O'Leary took and at her good fortune for not being hurt more seriously.

''They tell you it has an obstructed view when you buy the ticket," said Rob Stout, a 47-year-old Rolling Stones devotee from Long Valley, N.J. ''I wouldn't put myself in that kind of danger."

Carole Gallegos, a 56-year-old Halifax woman who said she saw the Rolling Stones for the first time in 1968, echoed the sentiment. ''I'm a great fan, but even I wouldn't do that," she said. ''I was hooked the first time I saw them."

Officials said they are unsure how O'Leary got onto the rafters. Witnesses, however, said they believe O'Leary climbed there to get a better view of the band. Stephanie Hines, 42, of Lynnfield, was enjoying the concert with her husband when she said she saw a woman go to the back of the grandstand area and jump up onto the rafters.

''She was so fast," Hines said of O'Leary. ''She jumped up and started climbing like a monkey. Before we knew it, she was way out over the overhang. I was like, 'How is she doing this?' "

Hines said they had a view of the stage from the grandstands but could not see the jumbo screen. Hines said she saw O'Leary talking with friends earlier in the evening and that she was not acting rowdy or unusual before she climbed onto the beam.

''She is lucky she didn't hurt herself even more or hurt someone else," Hines said.

O'Leary sat barefoot, perched on a steal support beam for about 20 minutes, Hines said. ''She was loving it up there," Hines said. ''It was like she didn't have a care in the world. She was just up there smiling."

Boston police said yesterday that O'Leary will probably be charged with disorderly conduct for her high-risk attempt to get a better look, which ended when she fell while trying to flee security personnel. ''There is a likelihood that charges will be filed," said Officer Michael McCarthy, a police spokesman.

This is the first time a fan has put themselves at such a risk of danger in recent memory, said Dr. Charles Steinberg, the Red Sox executive vice president. ''It's an unusual occurrence to be sure," he said. ''The terrible consequences that she suffered are, as you would imagine, enough to dissuade someone from even thinking of doing such a damaging stunt."

O'Leary's mother refused to talk about the incident. ''I can't talk right now because I am really just concerned about my daughter," Mary Ann O'Leary said during a brief telephone interview yesterday.

Ralph Ranalli of the Globe staff and Globe correspondents Sarah Metcalf and Stephanie Vosk contributed to this report.