Saugus chief: Jin must be accountable

SAUGUS – Police Chief Domenic DiMella called on the Board of Selectmen Tuesday to hold Jin Restaurant accountable for a New Year’s Eve incident that stretched well into New Year’s Day.Saugus police, four State Troopers and eventually police officers from four surrounding communities were called in to help control and clear out more than 1,000 patrons who spilled out of nightclub Orchid located within the Route 1 Asian restaurant complex and the restaurant itself after last call on New Year’s Eve.When police arrived at the complex, DiMella said patrons jammed into the first- and second-floor lobbies and spilled over onto the staircase and numerous fights had broken out on both levels. All told it took 30 officers over an hour to restore peace and clear out the club.DiMella said the most disturbing part of the entire incident was the fact that four communities had to leave their residents unprotected on New Year’s Eve in order to help Saugus deal with its problem.”In my years with the Saugus Police, I cannot remember a single call to Saugus for mutual aid because of an out of control nightclub,” DiMella read from a prepared statement. “In the past year, there have been four such calls to other communities from Saugus.”DiMella said the town owes their neighbors a debt as well as a promise that such calls would not continue.”Asking other communities to address our problems because we fail to act quickly and decisively is not an option,” he said.DiMella said the incident also highlighted the importance of safety not only for the community but for the responding officers as well.”While Saugus Police officers expect and are more than willing to respond to any emergencies that circumstances may dictate there are many ramifications to an overcrowded, improperly maintained nightclub,” he said.DiMella went on to say that the likelihood of an officer being injured when they’re outnumbered by a hostile and unruly crowd is very high, which would put a strain on the town in terms of manpower as well as financially.While the board, which had been whittled to three members, agreed on a show cause hearing, it did not immediately set a date. Instead Selectmen Michael Kelleher, Peter Rossetti and Stephen Horlick said they would check calendars and set a date later for the hearing. Chairman Donald Wong excused himself from the hearing because as an owner of The Kowloon, he is a liquor license holder. Stephen Castinetti also stepped down from the hearing because, he said, Jin is one of his clients.Horlick tried to raise the question that if the restaurant’s capacity had been discussed earlier as he had requested, would the incident still have happened but his colleagues cut him off. Rossetti accused him of setting a prejudicial tone before the hearing even opened and Kelleher said the issue would be addressed within the hearing.DiMella said his reasons for the hearing included the restaurant’s failure to have everyone off the property by closing time and its failure to protect its employees as well as the public, which it is required under law to do.Other charges, Kelleher said, would be determined during a future meeting and then a show cause hearing date would be set.