The plight of Lee Viloria’s family
This 16-year-old disappeared from his home on November 18. The family reported him missing the next day and it was assumed to be a runaway. His grandparents knew he was not the type of child who had a reason to run away from home. Two days later, after insisting they should look into it, they were able to talk to Lawrence Police Detective Jay Heggarty.
The next day, Detective Heggarty visited their home, inspected Lee’s room and was shown their grandson’s telephone. Instead of taking it to check who his friends are and who were his recent contacts, Heggarty asked them to look through it and make a list of names. That should be part of the investigation that never took place.
The grandmother, Ivelisse Cornielle told me that they also handed the detective a copy of the flyer they were distributing and said, “I was heartbroken after he left and I found he had left the flyer on the sofa. He didn’t even take it!”
Then, they were wondering why he didn’t ask about cameras in the homes in the neighborhood. Ivelisse took it upon herself to list all the houses around theirs with cameras and took those videos to the police station. She insisted that they should check with the high school about the child accompanying Lee when he left home.
When asked why they had not called for an Amber Alert, they were told that Lee did not qualify. The Amber Alert is for missing children under 17 years of age.
Detective Heggarty went to the school, interviewed Matthew Borges who bad-mouthed Lee without reason and the detective confessed to the grandparents that he believed Borges’ statement that Lee was a troublemaker, confirming the belief that he was a runaway.
“He believed that kid over our opinion of our grandson!”
Through all of this, they were asking for a meeting with Mayor Dan Rivera and after much begging, it was granted on Wednesday, November 30 – the day before Lee’s body was found.
Adding insult to injury, the mayor and police chief held a press conference in front of the police station on December 2 at noon. See the press release issued by the mayor at that time on page 2, thanking the governor’s office, the district attorney’s office, the state police and the Lawrence Police Department for their investigation of Lee’s disappearance. Lies, pure lies! Those outside offices had no idea of what was happening until the body was found.
During that press conference, notice the picture of a lost dog in the background, posted on the window at the police station. Alberto Suris asked Chief Fitzpatrick if he ever posted Lee’s picture on that window and he responded they had done so. The family claims it was never there.
I did check on the police department’s Facebook page and they posted a picture on November 20 and again on November 22. That’s how the police department investigates crimes in this city: Facebook!
Now, Mayor Rivera went on Power 800, assuring the residents that the city is safe. He insists that Lawrence is a safe city in spite of all the crime we witness on a daily basis and which goes unreported by the police or the local press. Interestingly, the mayor admitted having purchased video cameras for his new home. “I have not installed them but I’m going to,” giving the impression that if we want to be “safe” we must install security cameras in our homes.
Attitudes must change
At the council meeting on Tuesday, December 6, Councilor at-Large Brian De Peña received a call from someone outside the council chambers saying it was an emergency. The issue was about another child who received a text message demanding $500 with a picture of a bloody person, stating that the same would happen to him if he did not comply.
The mother had gone to the police station looking for help and instead she was told that someone would look into it the next day.
Councilor De Peña immediately called Mayor Rivera and demanded that he calls the police department to provide that mother services. The response she received was that it might be impossible to find out who sent it because it could be a message from out of state or using a pre-paid telephone. They are already assuming what may be as if looking for excuses for not doing anything.
Vigil held Tuesday night
The original intent of holding that vigil was to demand the firing of Police Chief James Fitzpatrick. When the authorities heard that it would take place in front of the police station, they convinced the organizers to change the location. The excuse given was that they shouldn’t block the street in case the fire department, which is across the street from the police station, needed to go out in an emergency.
Whether the chief gets fired or not is not my reason for criticizing them. That compliance upon a simple request is the reason why we don’t get any respect in this city. If they were really serious about their demand, they could have told them to turn the trucks around to be able to leave from the back entrance of their station. Also, assuming that some emergency occurred, they could exit by turning to the right instead of the left by the police station.
When demonstrators want to be heard they block whatever is in their way. Remember when Rt. 93 came to a total stop because where sitting on the road? People are still talking about it!
Safe and Successful Youth Initiative
There is a lengthy article on page 9 about the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative. This program started in 2011 through a state grant providing support to urban communities and offers services to young men ages 14–24 who are, in the state’s words, “at proven risk of shooting someone or being shot.”
On Tuesday, December 6th, the City Council was presented with a request from the police chief to take an item as an emergency. It was the approval of a $600,000 grant for the purpose of running the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative Program that they failed to have approved by the City Council. This grant expires on June 30, 2017 and it is needed “to start programming” which implies that nothing is taking place.
The meeting became quite confusing for the councilors because Paul Heithaus and April Lyskowsky of Lawrence Family Development & Education Fund, Inc. which is the parent organization to the Lawrence Family Development Charter School were part of Ms. Wall’s presentation for this grant. Mr. Heithaus explained that he is the director of the SSYI Program while Ms. Lyskowsky clarified that she directs the YouthBuild Program. So, why was she there?
It became obvious that this emergency meeting was requested by Police Chief James Fitzpatrick as a result of my letter the day before. Again, he was asleep when the work of his officers was not being done.
Officer Tully
Please take the time to read the article “How to make a better city: Start with the Police,” by James O’Donoghue on page 6. It’s a 2013 story of Officer John F. Tully that I remember well but there is more to this police officer.
Besides that case, Officer Tully is known for working an unauthorized private detail in 2011 and pocketing the city’s fee. There was also the time when he refused to assist the victims of an armed robbery outside the Marabu nightclub because his unauthorized detail work would be exposed. The victims begged him to help them and he told them to report it to the police station. As a result, the robber got away but when they told the officers their story, it was discovered that he was working on an unauthorized detail.
Officer Tully was also accused of failing to report shooting a Salem man in the buttocks and they only found out when the man was arrested at his home later in the day.
Former Mayor William Lantigua wanted to fire Officer Tully but in January of 2014, incoming mayor Rivera just gave him a 30-day unpaid suspension.
And, don’t forget Lt. Fleming
Daniel Fleming is the officer in charge of the day shift who abandons his post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a couple of hours to teach a course on Criminal Justice at Northern Essex Community College on Franklin St. I have written about him several times and the police chief, the mayor and the city councilors pay no attention.
Yes, I include the city councilors because they watch the purse and continue paying his salary with no questions asked. When Lt. Fleming leaves the station, his crew is left with no leadership. He is in charge! He is also known for closing his office door to prepare class materials and correct student papers. Officers have complained to the chief to no avail.
By the way, he teaches in full uniform and parks his cruiser by the college. That is completely prohibited according to their manual.
