Officer Indicted in Student Assault Case

A federal grand jury has indicted Boston Police Sgt. Harry A. Byrne Jr. on charges of violating the constitutional rights of Garett D. Trombly ’03 during his arrest and detainment Sept. 9, when the officer allegedly struck Trombly on the side of the face and broke his jaw.

Trombly was originally arrested for assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, procuring alcohol for minors and public drinking. But all charges against the Cabot House resident were dropped less than a month after his arraignment because of insufficient evidence.

At Trombly’s Sept. 10 arraignment, his lawyer alleged that Trombly had been assaulted. The comments sparked an internal BPD investigation.

The Brighton district sergeant is also charged with tampering with four different police officer witnesses in the investigation.

As of today, Byrne has been suspended without pay from all duty, marking his fifth suspension in 21 years with the force.

“These are extremely serious allegations against this Superior Officer,” said Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans in a statement. “The Boston Police Department will not tolerate this type of behavior, and has assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in their investigation.”

Since the investigation began, Byrne has been transferred to a desk job with the BPD’s evidence management division and had his gun taken away, both standard procedure in such a situation.

A 1992 Boston Globe article detailing complaints against BPD officers lists Byrne, a West Roxbury resident, as an officer “with high numbers of complaints.” He accumulated a dozen claims of abuse in the 1980s. He was promoted to sergeant in May of 2000.

If convicted of violating Trombly’s constitutional rights, Byrne faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the four witness tampering counts carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine as well.

Byrne’s Brighton district superior, Cpt. William Evans, declined comment regarding his officer’s indictment.

In the original police report, Byrne wrote that Trombly was “booked in the usual manner.”

But in an interview shortly after the incident, Trombly’s attorney, Andrew Good, alleged that “[the sergeant] grabbed [Trombly] about the throat and continued pummeling him.”

After his broken jaw was wired shut, Trombly spent about two months unable to eat solid food.

The deadline for Trombly to file a civil suit against the 47-year-old sergeant is September 2004.

The BPD is withholding the names of the four officers Byrne allegedly attempted to persuade not to report the alleged incident to authorities.

“This alleged conduct by a Boston Police Officer is reprehensible but is in no way representative of the the Boston Police Department,” U.S. Attorney Anthony Sullivan said in a statement.

Good has refused to comment about the federal government’s charges. Trombly also declined to speak, on his lawyer’s advice.

The case will be prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel S. Theodore Merritt ’74 of Sullivan’s Public Corruption and Special prosecutions Unit, and by Trial Attorney Mai Linh Spencer of the Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C.

—Staff writer Justin D. Gest can be reached at gest@fas.harvard.edu.