Bedlam after win leaves death, injuries, destruction

An alcohol-soaked celebration turned first to bedlam and soon to tragedy on Symphony Road after the Patriots' Super Bowl win. The driver of an SUV gunned through the mobbed Back Bay street, authorities said, striking and killing one young man and seriously injuring another.

A crowd near Northeastern, made up mostly of students, also flipped over six cars, set bonfires, threw beer bottles, and had to be subdued by firefighters who sprayed them with hoses.

"I just saw . . . madness, hysteria," said Carla Reidy, a Northeastern student. "It didn't make any sense at all -- it still doesn't."

Yesterday, Northeastern and Boston officials struggled to answer questions about how the night of New England's triumph could have gone fatally awry.

The bloody riot scene was in direct contrast to the call for calm made by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who said after the game: "None of it would be possible without . . . all the fans we got back in Boston. Careful in that city -- don't tear that thing down tonight."

Minutes after midnight, police said, 24-year-old Stanley Filoma of Boston raced down the street in his Toyota Land Cruiser amid the crush of some 1,500 revelers blocking the roadway, hitting four people. Filoma, whose driver's license was reinstated less than a month ago after being suspended, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment yesterday on charges including motor vehicle homicide while under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident. He was held on $10,000 cash bail. A pretrial hearing was scheduled for Feb. 26.

"He's a scared young guy who panicked," said Filoma's court-appointed lawyer, Steven Sack. "He's sorry this guy died, but he's just a frightened young man right now and doesn't have much else to say."

James Grabowski, 21, of West Newbury, was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and pronounced dead a short time later. Grabowski, a star wrestler in high school, spent two years at the Coast Guard Academy and more recently enrolled at North Shore Community College. Known as Jamie, he was the son of State Police Captain Daniel Grabowski, who headed security details for former governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci.

Last night, Jason Stackiewicz, 21, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a third-year student majoring in criminal justice at Northeastern, was listed in serious condition at Beth Israel. His father, Tom, said by phone last night that his son is suffering from bleeding around the brain, broken bones, and lacerations.

Another Northeastern student was treated and released, and a fourth victim was recovering in the hospital.

Filoma's gray 1991 SUV was parked on Symphony Road, a narrow street lined with Northeastern-owned apartments, with the crowd blocking him from moving, John Powers, a Suffolk assistant district attorney, said in Roxbury District Court.

The driver first put the vehicle -- its headlights off -- in reverse and backed up quickly into the crowd, forcing a number of police officers to jump out of the way, before he stopped in front of an overturned car, Powers said.

The Land Cruiser then shot forward, striking a number of pedestrians, Powers said.

Witnesses said one victim was thrown into the air and landed on the windshield.

"One kid put his hands up to stop the car . . . he went flying into a parked car," Reidy said.

Filoma continued down Symphony Road, turned the wrong way on St. Stephen Street into a public alley, and onto Westland Avenue, where he rear-ended a taxi and stopped, Powers said. Police said they immediately noticed the odor of alcohol as they arrested him.

"When approached by the officers," Powers said, Filoma "made statements to the effect of, `What happened?' or `What's going on?' "

About four hours after his arrest, Filoma was given a breath analysis test and registered a 0.09 percent blood alcohol rate, slightly above the legal limit of 0.08.

"He didn't look drunk. He just looked scared," said one witness, 24-year-old Vanessa Velez. "He was just standing there, I think, in shock."

There was blood on the street and the Land Cruiser, and onlookers were screaming, Velez said.

Filoma, resting his head against the windowed dock in the courtroom during his appearance, also pleaded not guilty to driving to endanger and failing to stop for police.

Filoma lives with his parents in Mattapan and has worked in the print or mail room of Electronic Data Systems for three years, his lawyer said. Before that, he was a supervisor at an Osco Drugs on Boylston Street. A 1999 graduate of Charlestown High School, Filoma also attended Katharine Gibbs School, but left to take a job, according to Sack.

Filoma has no criminal record, but had enough infractions -- from speeding to driving without an inspection sticker -- that his license was suspended in September. After Filoma took a National Safety Council class, his license was reinstated on Jan. 5, according to Amie O'Hearn, spokeswoman for the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Grabowski was described by friends and former teachers as funny, popular, and intelligent. He was a 2001 state champion in wrestling and also played varsity football and lacrosse, said Ed Hardiman, principal of St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, where Grabowski and his two younger brothers attended high school.

"He was one of my favorite kids, just full of life and energy," said his sixth-grade teacher, Patti Marsh.

A man who answered the door at Grabowski's home, which is surrounded by pasture where several cows grazed yesterday, said the family would have no comment.

Grabowski's father, a 26-year veteran of the State Police, is well known.

"My heart goes out to Dan's family," Cellucci said from Ottawa yesterday. "Our prayers are with him and his family."

Because several cars were turned over when the Patriots won the Super Bowl two years ago, Northeastern prepared for Sunday night with a carrot-and-stick approach: setting up many small parties with free pizza in the dorms, and warning students they'd be disciplined for bad behavior.

Yet young people were throwing cinder blocks at cars and smashing windows with baseball bats, witnesses said, while others were climbing trees and women were flashing their breasts at the crowd.

Students who participated in destruction face suspension or expulsion as well as criminal charges, Northeastern officials said.

"I would like to pledge to the residents of the Fenway my commitment to working with them and with law enforcement and senior administration here on campus to punish those responsible for this reprehensible behavior, and to work to avoid its future recurrence," Northeastern president Richard M. Freeland said in a statement.

Globe correspondents Heather Allen, John McElhenny, and Emma Stickgold contributed to this report. Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.