Patron charged with assault on trooper

October 2, 2007

A bar patron who has accused an off-duty Massachusetts State Police sergeant and two Boston College football players of assaulting him was charged yesterday with punching the sergeant during the July 1 altercation. Sean Maney, 28, of Watertown, was charged with assault and battery against Sergeant Joseph J. Boike during a melee at The Greatest Bar near North Station. Assistant Magistrate Francis X. Cunningham issued the complaint after a hearing in Boston Municipal Court. Witnesses supported Boike's assertion that Maney started the fight by punching Boike after the sergeant, a part owner of the bar, asked Maney and his friends to make room for a group of Boston College players. Boike, 52, sought the complaint after he was charged with assaulting Maney and his brother's girlfriend during the brawl. State Police have suspended Boike without pay pending the outcome of the court case. Maney suffered a broken neck and other injuries in the altercation.

This past summer was a little smoggier than last year, but air quality in New England continues to improve over time. Environmental Protection Agency officials say the region experienced 26 days between May and September when ozone monitors registered unhealthy concentrations, compared with 16 days during the same months in 2006. Most of the unhealthy days this year, 20, were recorded in Massachusetts. Officials say the increase in the number of days with unhealthy air is related to the increase in the number of hot days this year. Over the long term, New England has experienced a decreasing number of unhealthy ozone days. In 1983, New England had 90 unhealthy days, compared with 26 this summer. (AP)

MBTA Police were looking for three suspects in the stabbing of two men on a Red Line train inside the Park Street station late last night, MBTA police spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. Police removed the train from service to investigate the stabbing, which occurred about 11:45 p.m. Police said the suspects fled the station when the southbound train pulled into the station. Conditions of the victims and details on the stabbing were not available.

A man who admitted killing his estranged girlfriend, her daughter, and her new boyfriend has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. Adelino Duarte of Pawtucket must serve at least 40 years of his sentence before he can become eligible for parole. Duarte pleaded guilty to three counts of murder in the August 2006 fatal shootings, which occurred at the apartment of his former girlfriend, Elizabeth Orellana. Authorities say Duarte entered the apartment, shot Orellana and her boyfriend, Octavio Calcagno, in the head, and then killed Orellana's daughter, Kristal Duarte. (AP)

The state's prisons commissioner says she does not need more staff or new prisons to handle any influx of inmates from Governor Jodi Rell's decision to temporarily halt parole for violent offenders. Theresa Lantz's testimony before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee contrasts with the opinions voiced by some lawmakers who fear the state's prisons are already too crowded and cannot handle more inmates. Lantz says that 228 beds are being added and that corrections officers are trained to handle fluctuating prison populations. Currently, there are about 300 portable beds set up on gym floors and in function rooms. (AP)

A new statewide radio system designed to allow first responders to communicate more effectively during a crisis worked successfully during a Providence disaster drill, emergency management officials said. The drill, held Sunday, simulated what could happen if a chemical weapon exploded inside the crowded Rhode Island Convention Center. Police and fire departments from Providence and several other cities and towns took part in the exercise, as did a National Guard civil support team. One major goal was to test whether systems that broke down in past emergencies, such as the deadly nightclub fire in West Warwick four years ago, have been fixed. Since the fire, Rhode Island officials have invested millions of dollars in a statewide communication system, and it worked successfully, Assistant Providence Fire Chief Michael Dillon said. (AP)