Grand Jury May Indict Suspects In Weeks Case

A district court found "sufficient cause" last Wednesday to send the case against three suspects in the Weeks Bridge mugging of October 27 before a grand jury. If the grand jury issues an indictment the case will be brought before the Middlesex Superior Court within several weeks.

Joseph Montalto, one of the Metropolitan District Commission detectives who headed the investigation, said yesterday that MDC police expect two more arrests this week in connection with the mugging. He added that the two still at large are the ones who actually committed the stabbing.

The stabbing occurred following the robbery of David A. Harnett, tutor in History. Three youths committed the robbery at the top of the bridge but did not molest Harnett there. One of the youths, however, pursued Harnett to the south end of the bridge and attacked him.

At that point Charles C. Vines Jr. '6C and Peter N. Mear '66 came to Harnett's aid. A struggle ensued during which Vines and Mear were stabbed by the other two youths who had joined the fight. All three youths escaped along with a fourth who was acting as a lookout and a fifth who was waiting in a parked car on DeWolfe Street.

Montalto disclosed that MDC police will be making reports every half hour from a call box that will soon l e installed in the middle of the bridge. "We're going to sue how this works out. Our police will be petrolling more frequently and paying more attention to the bridge," he said.

The district court did not have jurisdiction over the case because the maximum penalty for two of the offenses, assault and battery and robbery, exceeds two and a half years imprisonment. The court did, however, find cause to send the case before a grand jury which will rehear the evidence before deciding whether to indict the suspects.

The case will go before the grand jury within two weeks and before the superior court within five weeks if the three are indicted. Montalto said he will try to get an indictment for assault with a deadly weapon at the grand jury hearing. The maximum penalty for that offense is ten years imprisonment.