Saugus police chief to address selectmen on nightclub incident

SAUGUS – After Saugus police officers were forced to call for aid from seven other police agencies to stop a brawl involving nearly 1,000 patrons at Orchid nightclub on New Year’s morning, Police Chief Domenic DiMella said Monday he plans to address the Board of Selectmen tonight asking for club managers to appear before them at a future hearing.DiMella had an informal meeting Monday with Town Manager Andrew Bisignani to fill him in on the details of what happened early Thursday morning and why he thinks Orchid managers, particularly Anthony Cogliano of Saugus, should explain themselves for what DiMella called in an interview Sunday a situation that was “chaotic” and “totally out of control.””I gave the Town Manager the courtesy to let him know that I’m requesting a show cause hearing,” DiMella said, adding that the meeting “went very well.”Bisignani told the Item it is up to DiMella to make a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen on whether there should be a show cause hearing and he expected the chief would appear before the board tonight during its regular meeting.Four people were arrested and two were taken into protective custody shortly after employees of Orchid, which is located inside the Jin entertainment complex, issued last call at about 1:15 a.m. Police said two large fights broke out near the coat check area resulting in a brawl that took police over 90 minutes to stop. The last patrons did not leave the establishment until 2:40 a.m., which is 40 minutes after bars in town are supposed to close, police said.According to a letter from Saugus police Sgt. David Gecoya to DiMella obtained by the Item, the number of officers from other departments called to assist Saugus included five State Police Troopers, seven Lynn police officers, three Malden officers, three Melrose officers, three Chelsea officers, one Wakefield officer and one Lynnfield officer.DiMella said if it weren’t for the mutual aid, the situation would have been a lot worse.”They were invaluable and I don’t think it would have gone as well without them helping us out,” he said.In addition to some drunken club goers physically battling with officers, Gecoya wrote in his letter that “bone chilling temperatures” and “icy” conditions did not help the situation Thursday.In an interview Sunday, Cogliano accepted responsibility for allowing a large number of people into the club – something he said he didn’t expect because a snowstorm occurred that night.”Basically it starts with me,” he said. “I’m in charge of operations in the room and I didn’t anticipate we’d have that many people.”DiMella said he would recommend Orchid limit their capacity in the future, increase security and better monitor drunken patrons.”My first recommendation would be not to fill the club up to capacity because obviously their security could not handle it,” he said.Selectman Stephen Horlick said he typically doesn’t comment on the issue of show cause hearings but clearly he would support this one. Horlick has twice asked to have the general manager come before the board to discuss physical changes to the club, which first opened four months ago.Selectman Stephen Castinetti also said he would support a show cause hearing.”I’m very disappointed at what’s transpired,” he said. “Nobody is more tolerant and lenient with license holders than me because I think everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves.”That said however Castinetti called the New Years Eve incident significant enough to need addressing.”It’s unfortunate it that it happened but it did and now we have to deal with it,” he said.