Harrison St. fight fallout
Published on August 8th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - The Harrison Street fight story has more sides than Stoneham’s historical Octagon Houses.
But all sides include these key facts: A Melrose 20-year-old ran over a Stoneham teen, breaking his pelvis. Another young man from Stoneham beat a Melrose teen with a bat, breaking his back. And no felony charges have been filed.
Melrose attorney Mike Festa (also known as State Rep Festa) represents Eric Schille, the Melrose man who ran over the Stoneham teen during the July 11 melee.
The District Attorney’s Office has charged Schille with misdemeanor driving to endanger and leaving the scene of an accident.
Last week a Stoneham teen painted a picture of the events as he saw them. Festa wanted to share what his client has said about that night.
“My client denies that he knew he ran someone over,” Festa said. “He was scared for his safety, and he drove off...”
Festa says, according to information the Stoneham Police Department has shared with him, no traces of mace were found at the scene, but beer bottles were.
“The police didn’t find any mace, but my clients windshield was smashed,” Festa said. “The Stoneham kids were throwing eggs and beer bottles at his car.”
Festa says the police also believe that “a minimum of 20” Stoneham kids were in the street when Schille fled.
“He didn’t know the boy was under his car,” Festa said. “He didn’t even know his friend (the boy later beaten with the bat) wasn’t in the car.”
According to Festa, Schille drove straight home and called the police.
Schille’s account varies from last week’s version in several ways. He denies the use of mace, claims the Stoneham kids were drinking, denies intentionally running over anyone or threatening to run anyone over, and says he and his passengers — not the Stoneham kids in the street — were the scared, vulnerable parties.
Maybe mace was used, and the Melrose kids dumped it. Maybe it was pepper-spray that washed away in the gutter.
Maybe some Stoneham kids were drinking and some weren’t. Maybe they were just throwing beers, not drinking them — they weren’t eating the eggs.
Regardless of these facts two brutal acts took place. Festa says the first act was an accident resulting from panic in the face of imminent danger. But if the Melrose kids started the fight, Schille’s own illegal actions put himself in the way of the harm he ran over to escape. The Stoneham witness maintains that the Melrose kids “came out swinging.”
And regardless of who started it or any other details, there is absolutely no reason why the Stoneham kid who beat the Melrose boy with a bat after Schille drove off hasn’t been charged with a felony.
The Stoneham kid arguing the Stoneham side said that his friend “took the bat away from him (the Melrose kid) and beat him with it.”
Maybe a reason does exist why charges have not been filed against the Stoneham Class of 1998 member from Spring St. But neither the police nor the DA have stated it publicly.
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