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Tuesday, June 5, 2007
(Evan Richman/Globe Staff)
A skirmish between two concertgoers in the second balcony stopped the performance for two minutes.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
After a 10-minute closed-door hearing, the two men involved in what became known as the "Brawl at Symphony Hall" agreed today not to press charges for the fight that erupted in a balcony on the opening night of the Boston Pops.
Michael Hallam, 44, and Matthew Ellinger, 27, both refused to discuss the hearing with a throng of reporters, who trailed the men down six flights of stairs as they walked out of Boston Municipal Court. The men each appeared with a lawyer at a probable cause hearing before First Assistant Clerk Magistrate Rosemary Carr.
"Both parties have agreed to withdraw their complaints against each other and the court has allowed them to," Carr said after the hearing. She declined to say what prompted the men to drop the charges.
On the opening of the Boston Pops on May 9, a shoving match erupted on the second balcony between Hallam and Ellinger that halted the performance. Boston police threw both men out of Symphony Hall but did not arrest them.
The incident made national news, and a few days later the police department reversed its decision not to pursue charges and assigned a detective to investigate.
According to a police report obtained by the Globe, Ellinger told police that the incident started when he told Hallam to be quiet during the performance. Ellinger told police that he repeatedly asked Hallam to stop talking and tapped him with his program in the minutes before Hallam punched him.
Hallam has not spoken publicly since the fight. Ellinger, a graphic designer from Brighton, appeared on television was interviewed by several media outlets, including the Globe.
"People with a temper like that aren't really safe in society," Ellinger told the Globe in a story that was published May 11. "If a guy is going to lose his temper at the symphony when somebody asks him to stop talking, that's just not cool. If I were to let that go, I would be doing nobody any service."
Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 10:30 AM
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