Man accused of biting off toddler's lip

November 18, 2007

A Lowell man was arrested yesterday after allegedly biting off the lip of a 22-month-old boy in a Middlesex Street home, police said. Officers responded to the house about 10:20 a.m. after a woman in the apartment called 911. The suspect, Thy Chan, 26, was in an upstairs bedroom when officers arrived, police said. The toddler was taken to Children's Hospital Boston. Police would not comment on the relationship between Chan and the toddler. Chan will be charged with domestic assault and battery, assault and battery on a child with serious bodily injury, and mayhem, police said. A spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services said the agency is investigating, and the family has no prior history with the department. She said that Chan is the father of the boy.

Three teenagers from Brighton were arrested Friday night when police making a traffic stop found drugs and a gun in their car, authorities said. Jose Lara, 17, Anthony Pena, 18, and Julius Wright, 17, were arrested after police from the Youth Violence Strike Force participating in "Operation Impact" pulled over their vehicle for failing to signal a turn at Tremont and West Newton streets. According to a Boston police statement, officers detected an odor of marijuana inside the vehicle. When they ordered a passenger out of the car, police saw a gun handle partially covered by a sweat shirt. The teens face charges of unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of Class D narcotics, police said.

The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe is expected to hold an election for council chair today, a vote that will determine who will shepherd the tribe's reinvigorated push to open a casino. Donald A. Widdiss, chairman, is facing a challenge from Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, historic preservation officer, to lead the 1,000-plus-member tribe for the next three years. The voting is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the tribal administrative building, said Eleanor Hebert, secretary of the tribal council. Widdiss announced last month that the tribe was partnering with the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York as it competes for one of three regional casino licenses that Governor Deval Patrick plans to put out for bid.

Firefighters in Plymouth rushed from the town's Thanksgiving Parade yesterday to save a historic house, a fire official said. Battalion Chief Stanley Eldridge said the three-story home on Leyden Street, which was built in 1621, caught fire when the heat from three fireplaces being used at once became too intense and ignited material in the aged structure. Plymouth officials sent out a call for mutual aid, and engine companies from Kingston and Carver responded. Despite some damage to the upper floors, firefighters were able to locate the source and stop the fire quickly, saving the home, to which residents were allowed to return just a few hours later, Eldridge said. Plymouth sees a number of old building fires, Eldridge said. "I remember going to a fire at the [Plimoth] Plantation, one of those houses with the thatch roofs," he said. "It's different, you know; it's not in the books on how to handle these types of buildings."

An Air Force review has concluded that a proposed Cape Cod wind farm would have no impact on the nearby PAVE PAWS radar station in Bourne. PAVE PAWS is one of two radar facilities in the continental United States responsible for missile warning and space surveillance. US Representative William Delahunt asked for a review of how the 130 turbines proposed by Cape Wind Associates for Nantucket Sound would affect the radar. He said it could impact national security. After looking at the latitude and longitude of the turbines, the Air Force study concluded that the wind farm would not affect PAVE PAWS. It also looked at the turbines' proposed height above sea level and the windmill construction material. A Cape Wind spokesman said the company was pleased the Air Force had settled the question. (AP)

The lawyer for a Sabattus man accused of killing his father at his 65th birthday party says his client has rejected a plea offer from the prosecution, setting the stage for the case to go to trial in January. Scott Poirier, 35, is accused of shooting Roland Poirier in the throat with a rifle from outside his father's Lewiston residence on Nov. 8, 2006, while his father was inside with family members and friends. The son later told police that he was abused by his father when he was young and that he wanted to protect his own children. (AP)

(Correction: Because of incorrect information provided by the Plymouth Fire Department, an item in the New England News in Brief section on Sunday about a fire in the town included a wrong date for when the house was built. According to the Plymouth Historic District Commission, the original building on Leyden Street, where the fire occurred, was built in 1621 but burned in 1624. The building now on the site is a three-story house built in 1794 by Joseph Tribble.)