Former prosecutor, acquitted of rape, faces Celtics celebration rowdiness charge

June 18, 2008 12:44 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

Gary Zerola, a former prosecutor who was acquitted of rape charges, pleaded not guilty today in Boston Municipal Court to assault and battery on a police officer and other charges, after an incident downtown during Celtics victory celebrations last night.

Gary Zerola

Police apprehended Zerola at 1:45 a.m. after he was allegedly spotted urinating in public near State and Congress streets, according to Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney's office. When asked what he was doing, Zerola allegedly used an open hand to strike a police officer in the upper right shoulder, Wark said.

Zerola, 36, ran but was quickly arrested on charges that also included disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. Judge Tom Horgan released Zerola on personal recognizance and scheduled a pretrial conference for Aug. 7.

When Zerola was a prosecutor with the Suffolk District Attorney's office, his work on behalf of foster children helped earn him accolades in People magazine, which named him one of the nation's 50 "most eligible" bachelors.

In January 2006, a Suffolk Superior Court jury acquitted Zerola of attempted rape and other related charges involving a 19-year-old woman in his apartment in August 2006. In March 2008, he was acquitted of charges stemming from an episode in his Boston apartment in February 2004 with a different 19-year-old woman. He had been accused of four counts of rape and one charge of procuring alcohol for a minor.

Rape charges were also dropped against Zerola in Miami, where he had been accused of assaulting an 18-year-old university student at a Miami Beach hotel.