During an arraignment in a hospital room yesterday, a judge ordered a Bellingham man arrested after a fight with police held until his next court appearance.
Police say Joseph O’Brien, 39, of 251 Theresa Road, strongly resisted their efforts to arrest him April 9. The man’s family says he was the victim of police brutality.
“I do a lot of overzealous police cases and this seems like one of them,” defense attorney Alberto Aponte Cardona said after the hearing. “Clearly their actions are very questionable.”
O’Brien will be held until a dangerousness hearing May 14 in Milford District Court.
Not guilty pleas were entered on O’Brien’s behalf for charges of aggravated assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (a telephone handset and a handcuff), two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, three counts of malicious destruction of property worth over $250, possession of heroin, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
Police say O’Brien repeatedly defied officers’ attempts to restrain him, even after they gave him time to calm down and used nightsticks, pepper spray, a police dog, a stun gun and rubber bullets.
Police Chief Gerard Daigle yesterday said he stands by his officers’ actions.
Bellingham police had been guarding O’Brien at UMass Memorial Medical Center since the April 9 incident, costing the town about $25,000, Daigle said.
“We’re happy he was arraigned” because the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office now has custody of O’Brien and the case is moving forward, Daigle said.
Daigle said police do not know the cost of damage O’Brien caused to the station. Police hired a cleaning company to clean up blood splatter at the station, he said.
The incident began on April 9 when police went to the woods off Shirley Road around 5:30 p.m. on a call about a drunken man. There, police say, O’Brien fought officers with a tree branch. At the police station, O’Brien spit blood, ripped a phone from a wall, broke a window and ceiling tiles, and smashed a Breathalyzer machine, police have said.
Two officers were hurt but have recovered, police said.
At the hospital yesterday, Judge David Despotopulos revoked the $500 cash bail O’Brien had posted in connection with a prior incident.
Assistant District Attorney Michael McHugh said a superior court judge issued a warrant for O’Brien after he failed to appear at a hearing on charges stemming from a September 2011 clash with police.
In that incident, O’Brien kicked and injured officers when they were trying to arrest him, police said at the time.
Cardona, the defense attorney, argued revoking bail was premature because O’Brien was in the hospital for the superior court hearing.
O’Brien, who was dressed in street clothes and sitting in a chair next to his hospital bed, did not speak. He had bandages on his arms and across his chest.
Cardona said after yesterday’s hearing that O’Brien was in a coma for about three weeks. His collarbone and both arms are broken, among other injuries, Cardona said.
Cardona said O’Brien was worried when he awoke from a coma because a Bellingham officer was in the room and he didn’t know what was happening.
“We’re very happy to get the people … who beat him into a coma out of the room,” said O’Brien’s brother, John O’Brien. “We’re very happy that Joe’s alive. We’re looking very much forward to getting to the truth and exonerating him of these charges.”
Brian Benson can be reached at 508-634-7582 or [email protected].