Charges sought against 6 in riot after Super Bowl

After working with Northeastern University to identify students caught on camera rioting after the Super Bowl, Boston police are seeking charges against six more students. The school has expelled seven students and disciplined two others.

The six named by Boston police yesterday will appear in Roxbury District Court on April 5, when a clerk magistrate is to decide whether probable cause exists to charge them with a variety of crimes, such as disorderly conduct and willful destruction of property, according to a Boston police spokesman, Officer John Boyle. Police are seeking a total of 17 charges, all misdemeanors.

The students are Daniel Rosquette, 20 of Auburn, Maine; Kevin McCormick, 19, of Bedford, N.H.; Kevin Mautte, 20, of Framingham; Eric Larson, 20, of Grafton; Mark McGrath, 20, of Londonderry, N.H.; and Justin Bachman, 22 of Chillicothe, Mo.

The six, who have not been arrested, were among those investigated after Northeastern asked its students to identify people in 24 photographs taken during the rioting, most of them showing young men vandalizing cars and setting fires. A 21-year-old man was killed on Symphony Road when a driver gunned his SUV through the crowds, police said, and several cars were turned over in the neighborhood near Northeastern.

"We worked with Boston police on this entire investigation," said Ed Klotzbier, vice president for student affairs at Northeastern. "We are pursuing discipline, and they took the same information to pursue charges. We're fully supportive of the fact that these individuals should be punished for their actions."

Three other Northeastern students who were arrested Feb. 1, the night of the Super Bowl, have already been already charged with malicious destruction of property over $250 and inflicting damage on motor vehicles. They are Jonathan Diffenbach, 22 of Boston; Hamid Refai, 20, of Brookline; and Jason Shepherd, 20, of Sandwich, said David Procopio, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

All three acknowledged that prosecutors had sufficient facts to find them guilty, Procopio said. But Roxbury District Court Judge David Donnelly declined to ask for a guilty plea.

Their cases were continued without a finding, a procedure that will wipe the charges from their records if they complete an 18-month probation period without further violations. They also must perform 150 hours of community service and pay restitution to the vehicle owners, Procopio said.

Federal privacy law prohibits Northeastern from naming specific students who have been disciplined. But seven students who were involved in overturning cars have been expelled, Klotzbier said. Two less serious offenders were placed on deferred suspension, meaning that they face suspension if they get in more trouble.

Three more students are awaiting disciplinary hearings, and four or five more are still being investigated, Klotzbier said. He would not specify which of the students facing charges were subject to what punishment.

None of the students named by police yesterday could be reached. Kevin Mautte's father, who shares the same name, said of his son: "He is a good kid. He got caught in a stupid situation, that's all."

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday that Police Commissioner Kathleen M. O'Toole, who was named to her post after the Super Bowl, "did a great job" overseeing the investigation of the riot.

He said he supported the internal report released Thursday, which offered a scathing critique of Boston police for failing to prepare adequately for post-Super Bowl mayhem.

After the rioting, Menino blamed liquor stores' Sunday sales for fueling alcohol consumption and universities for not controlling their students sufficiently. Asked yesterday whether he had changed his assessment regarding liquor stores, he answered: "That was part of it, and some of the universities didn't have enough security out there."

Northeastern officials have declined to comment about the Boston police report, which noted that as many as 12 Northeastern officers help control the crowd.

"We were prepared," Robert P. Gittens, Northeastern's vice president for public affairs, said of Super Bowl night. "What we at Northeastern are doing is . . . making sure that something like this does not happen again."

He said Northeastern President Richard M. Freeland and Menino agreed Wednesday to examine neighborhood safety issues.

Michael Paulson of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Marcella Bombardieri can be reached at bombardieri@globe.com.