Revere man arrested for punching city councilor

June 10, 2008 07:21 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff

REVERE -- A 19-year-old man was arrested this afternoon after allegedly attacking and injuring a Revere city councilor who was taking pictures of his Beach Street home.

Andrew Alves was charged with assault and battery on a person over the age of 60 after allegedly punching Ward 2 Councilor Ira Novoselsky, 61, said Revere Police Captain Michael Murphy.

Murphy said that Alves had told responding officers, "Some old man was taking pictures of my house, got in my face, so I hit him." Around the corner, the officers came across Novoselsky, who was conscious but struggling to stand and "bleeding badly from an open head wound," Murphy said.

Novoselsky told authorities he had been investigating complaints from citizens about late-night construction noise coming from the home, and that he was taking pictures as well as checking the dimensions of a wall under construction in front of the house.

He told authorities that homeowners had been notified that someone would be taking pictures, Alves came out of the house, slapped the camera out of his hands, and said, "Stop taking pictures." Then Alves, "punched him in the jaw with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground and cutting his head open" on the concrete, Murphy said.

Novoselsky was taken by ambulance from the scene, Murphy said. He added that, "there's no indication that Ira was trespassing."

There is no police history of noise complaints at that location, Murphy said.

The felony charge against Alves carries a maximum three-year state prison sentence or a minimum $1,000 fine. There was no phone number listed for an Andrew Alves on Beach Street in Revere.