Acquitted murder suspect arrested for assault on cop

REVERE – The person acquitted of murdering a Winthrop man outside a Revere Beach bar in 1996 was arrested with his roommate Wednesday for assaulting a police officer at their Rumney Road home.Derek T. Ginnetti, 35 and Richard D. Zelandi, 47, of 136 Rumney Road, Revere, were arrested shortly after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.Ginnetti was acquitted in the May 1996 death of Patrick McCollom, 27, who was found dead outside The Tank on Revere Beach Boulevard. Prosecutors alleged the men got into a fight before McCollom was stabbed, hurled through a window and killed.Police were questioning Ginnetti and Zelandi at their home Wednesday after someone reported they tried to break into a car at the nearby D.B. Mart on Squire Road.The victim led police to the suspects’ house, where officers began speaking with Ginnetti, who was extremely intoxicated, police said.”Officers attempted to investigate the car break, but Mr. Ginnetti was becoming increasingly hostile and at one point nearly pushed an officer down the front stairs,” Revere Police Capt. Michael Murphy said.An officer used pepper spray to subdue Ginnetti, but some of the spray affected another officer at the scene, police said.Ginnetti was arrested and charged with assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.Meanwhile, as police took Ginnetti into custody, Zelandi had allegedly run away.Zelandi was eventually found hiding under a carpet outside his home, police said.Zelandi was arrested in connection with the car break and charged with breaking and entering at night with intent to commit a felony, larceny over $250, malicious destruction of property over $250 and assault and battery on a police officer.Police say Zelandi became combative at the police station.”In the process of getting Zelandi into the station, he assaulted two officers and threatened others. Zelandi and Ginnetti were both described as extremely uncooperative and intoxicated,” Murphy said.Ginnetti was also arrested in Revere in February 2004 for carrying a dangerous weapon and being a fugitive from justice.Zelandi was arrested in Revere in May 2003 for assault and battery.