Pubdate: Sun, 04 Dec 2005
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff

O'TOOLE ADDRESSES WITNESS FEARS

Says police memo tied to assault case Boston Police Commissioner 
Kathleen M. O'Toole yesterday said an internal Boston police document 
found in the hands of a man arrested after a high-speed chase is 
about a sexual assault case, not a homicide.

She also emphasized that no witnesses who are innocent bystanders are 
named in the report, saying that she is especially concerned about a 
culture of fear and intimidation that is making it more difficult for 
police to solve crimes and make arrests.

"I just want to reassure the community," O'Toole said. "I know there 
are a lot of concerns out there among people who are willing to come forward."

She said police want to know how the man got the document, why he had 
it, and what his link, if any, might be to the sexual assault case.

"Any time we find a Boston police report in the hands of a criminal 
suspect of course we're going to do a follow-up investigation to 
determine how it got there," O'Toole said at a news conference.

Yesterday the Globe incorrectly reported, based on information from 
two police officials told about the investigation who spoke on 
condition of anonymity, that the document contained witness names in 
a homicide case.

The man who had the document was a passenger in a car that fled 
police after a traffic stop in Dorchester and was arrested after the 
chase ended in Milton early Tuesday. Police found a spent shell 
casing inside the vehicle and bags of crack cocaine nearby, according 
to an arrest report obtained by the Globe. The man and four others 
were charged with drug possession; the driver was also charged with 
resisting arrest, assault on an officer, and failure to stop.

The arrest report says officers seized the car for homicide 
investigators because of the fatal shooting of Carl Searcy, 17, in 
Roxbury two hours before the chase began. No charges have been filed 
in connection with the slaying.

O'Toole said the internal document found in the man's possession is 
about a year old and pertains to an ongoing sexual assault 
investigation. The report, which the commissioner said she reviewed 
yesterday, includes names of possible suspects, who potentially could 
be witnesses to the crime as well, she said.
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