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Three men in melee with EMTs, firefighters say they didn't start the fight

A Brighton District Court judge set bail of $1,000 apiece today for three men charged with attacking firefighters and EMTs responding to an Allston collision Friday night.

At their arraignment today, Devon Roachford, 28, of Hyde Park and Shaquel Nelson, 21, and Jarien Miller, 24, both of Cambridge, were charged with assault and battery on an ambulance personnel and interfering with firefighters. Roachford was also charged with vandalism for allegedly destroying a smoke detector or sprinkler head in the cell at the D-14 police station where he was held after his arrest.

According to Assistant Suffolk County DA Mike Glennon, firefighters and EMTs rushed to the intersection of Brighton and Harvard avenues around 11:30 p.m. after receiving a call that a woman had been hit by a car. The first responders got the woman on a backboard and were in the process of putting her in an ambulance when the three men decided to get closer to the woman - and tried to get into the ambulance with her - Glennon said. The firefighters told them they couldn't do that, were unable to calm the three and the trio began swinging, he said. By the time police arrived, one firefighter needed hospital care himself, for shoulder and elbow injuries sustained in the battle, he said.

Attorneys for the three men told a different story. The woman is Roachford's girlfriend and Nelson's sister. They said that the driver who hit her stopped and became inconsolable. Roachford was trying to calm the driver down when firefighters and EMTs pulled up. Then, they said, somebody tackled Rochford from behind - "somebody in uniform" one of the lawyers said - and pulled him away from the car.

When Roachford and his friends heard his girlfriend crying out for him as she was getting prepared for the ambulance - "Stay with me! Don't leave me!" another one of the attorneys said - the three rushed to her, only to be confronted by firefighters and EMTs who refused to let them near her. None of the three has a record and while two had had some beers earlier in the evening, they were not under the influence at the time, the attorneys said.

"His emotions took over," his attorney said, when Judge David Donnelly expressed skepticism that professionals in uniform would attack people while responding to an injured person.

Donnelly said Roachford's apparent decision to vandalize the holding cell didn't speak well to his state of mind at the time. He set bail at the $1,000 requested by Glennon for Roachford - and doubled the $500 they had asked for Nelson and Miller.

The three are scheduled for another court appearance on Aug. 8.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

I'm sure the smoke detector started the fight, too.

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You weren't there. I heard the smoke detector tried to tackle him from behind.

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Snitches get stitches.

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Yes, I'm sure they had nothing but the best intentions in surrounding the inconsolable driver that had just hit their sister/girlfriend.

I know my first thought in that situation would always be, gosh, I hope the driver's going to be okay with her grief that resulted from this collision.

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Yes, I'm sure they had nothing but the best intentions in surrounding the inconsolable driver that had just hit their sister/girlfriend.

"I was trying to calm her down by stroking her solar plexus gently with my fist."

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sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer!

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im surprised the fire fighters didn't completely clobber and instantly restrain these folks.. fire fighters tend to be strong and wear lots of gear that I would think would protect them from a violent person

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Group of young adult men with one women (gf) who gets hit by a car, Friday night, in an area well known for it's bars. First responders arrive and see the men swarming the driver of the car that hit the woman. First responders intervene to prevent driver from being lynched. Men are out of control, police show up and arrest them all. Lawyer claims men were trying to assist the driver and make him feel better about hitting the woman. First responders and police were to blame for instigating the brawl. Smoke detector broke itself.

You're welcome.

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Any evidence?

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whoa, easy there friend of the suspects. slow down my dude

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And from their story sprang many flowers.

What a load of...

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im so confused... who got hit? the fighters girl? who was driving? what happened between the driver and the aggressive men? were the attackers driving the car that hit their own gf? I don't understand.

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Here's the rough sequence:

  1. Woman, who is with three men - one her boyfriend, the other her brother - gets hit by a car.
  2. Driver of the car realizes what he or she has done, pulls over, becomes hysterical.
  3. One of the three men - the boyfriend - goes up to car.
  4. EMTs and firefighters show up.

What happens next is where the stories really diverge ...

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thanks. this and one of the above comment really cleared up my confusion.

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1. The woman's boyfriend, who is her brother, hits her with a car. The driver,
an EMT, gets hysterical and starts yelling at three random guys.
2. Firefighters show up, because, hysterical.
3. Driver of car, who might not be hysterical but might be, becomes hysterical.
4. They all throw punches because hysterical and definitely not alcohol related.
5. Cops.

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You forgot the smoke detector. Otherwise, well done!

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no criminal records? I guess he was not convicted (go figure), but google Devon Roachford....

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Meh.

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That's why homeboy was walking and not driving

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EMTs and firefighters don't start fights. The judge should tell these assholes to shut up and then throw the book at them. Done.

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