Private party turns into riot www.privateofficer.com
Posted by privateofficernews on November 24, 2007
Framingham Ma. Nov. 24 2007
A near riot broke out at a local restaurant on Thursday in what police say started as a minor altercation between several people and ended up with two police officers facing down several hundred disorderly persons.
Several party goers began cussing at police officers Paul Duncan and Pamela Buford who were working a private security detail at the Aegean Restaurant and began calling them pigs and becoming loud and aggressive toward the officers.
One group also tried to wrestle a taser gun away from officer Duncan as he was making an arrest and officers quickly put a call out for assistance.
Neither Duncan nor Bufford were injured, and all available police officers, more than 10, rushed to the restaurant to break up the hostile crowd, the lieutenant said.
“This was a very dangerous situation,” Shastany said. “The danger was as high as it gets. Mobs don’t respond well to police.”
Two people were arrested during the 12:10 a.m. incident: James R. Brown, 26, of Clinton, and Daniel Maldonado, 28, of Cape Coral, Fla.
The Aegean Restaurant was hosting a Thanksgiving Eve party, with Duncan and Bufford were working a paid detail.
Around midnight, one of the employees told Duncan a man was causing a problem inside the bathroom. Duncan began to confront the intoxicated man, but Brown intervened, Shastany said.
“The new guy said, ‘I know this guy. I’ll take care of him,’ ” the lieutenant said. “Duncan said they have to leave and the guy (Brown) shrugged his shoulder, and with a smirk said, ‘Whatever,’ and started walking toward the bathroom.”
The men ignored Duncan’s order to leave. The first man swore at Duncan and was baiting him, saying “Arrest me, arrest me,” Shastany said.
Duncan reached toward the drunken man when Brown elbowed the officer in the stomach, the lieutenant said.
As Duncan tried to take the struggling Brown into custody, he crowd whipped into a frenzy.
“The crowd was riotous,” said Shastany. “The officer felt several hands on his body, trying to pull him off. … He took out his Taser, and people were trying to take his Taser away. Officer Bufford tried to assist him and both officers were fighting for their survival.”
While the officers handcuffed Brown, Aegean security staff kept the crowd at bay.
Once outside, the officers called for assistance over the radio, while the crowd followed them outside. One person returned Duncan’s tie, which was ripped off during the fight.
The arriving officers helped break up the crowd.
Inside, one man, later identified as Maldonado, kept grabbing another man. The officers separated them to prevent a fight, but Maldonado continued screaming. He was arrested.
Brown was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Maldonado was charged with disorderly conduct.
Both Brown and Maldonado were released without bail after their Framingham District Court arraignments yesterday and are due back in court on Jan. 2 for a pretrial conference.
Shastany said the Police Department’s licensing unit would investigate to see if the Aegean Restaurant is at fault for the events.
“It’s much too early to speculate about that,” he said.
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