Lawsuit filed in fatal 2000 car chase

[Porcus Ubiquitous]

Lawsuit filed in fatal 2000 car chase




By:PETER GILLEN Gazette Staff Writer December 27, 2002




By PETER GILLEN

Gazette Staff Writer

TAUNTON - Two plaintiffs are suing the city and police for allegedly
wrongly chasing Christopher Federici on the night almost three years
ago he crashed his 1998 Chevy Celebrity, killing two teens and
injuring two others.

Federici, then 17, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide
while operating under the influence of alcohol after he flipped his
car in the early morning hours on Jan. 23 2000, while allegedly
fleeing police. He was also cited on two counts of causing serious
bodily injury while operating under the influence of alcohol.

According to accounts from the time, Federici was traveling up to 100
miles an hour.

The early morning accident on Route 138 killed passengers Justin
DeMello and Eric Brockway and seriously injured passengers David
Peardon and Anthony Acciavatti, who was 17 at the time. All three were
residents of Brockton.

A new wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of DeMello and
Acciavatti alleges that the City of Taunton, Taunton Police and the
patrolman who gave chase are legally culpable.

Taunton City Solicitor Steven Torres said the suit, filed in United
State District Court, misplaces the blame.

"I think the only ones responsible for those injuries are the people
who don't stop when the blue lights and sirens are behind them,"
Torres said.

Attorney James M. Caramanica, of the Law Offices of John C. Carleen of
Saugus, claims that Burns followed too closely, was improperly trained
and, in effect, caused the accident.

"Burns pursued the subject vehicle at high and excessive rates of
speeds throughout the city of Taunton. Burns' pursuit of the subject
vehicle at these high and excessive rates of speed was unreasonable
and amounts to conduct that shocks the conscience," state the brief
filed by Caramanica.

By filing the civil suit in federal court, the plaintiffs can bypass a
$100,000 cap on municipal liability under state law. The standard in
federal court is conduct that "shocks the conscience."

Chandra Gregory, administrator of DeMello's estate, and the Acciavatti
family are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for what they
claim was police misconduct in the alleged chase.

"As a direct and proximate result of Burns' pursuit of the subject
vehicle, the subject vehicle went off the roadway in Raynham," the
plaintiff's brief states.

The plaintiffs claims differ from police accounts at the time.

At the time, Taunton Police Captain Edmund Finnegan said Burns had
fallen so far behind that he could barely see the tailights on
Federici's 1998 Red Chevy Celebrity.

Finnegan said at the time that Burns was very upset by the accident.

Torres declined to discuss any of the specifics of the case. He did,
however, speak about Patrolman Burns' character.

"Patrolman Burns is an outstanding officer who is respected by his
peers and in the community," Torres said.

"He's one of our finest police officers and I have the utmost respect
for him," Union President John E. Munise III said.

"He's in a position many police officers have been in before, and
they'll be many in it again," Munise said. "It's one of the perils of
the profession."

Chandra Gregory is the administer of the estate of Justin DeMello and
she is represented by Brockton lawyer Kevin J. Reddington, who
defended former Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughan on a drunken driving
charge.

[stezoeia...@gmail.com]

I am the uncle of Justin DeMello, back in 2000 I had evidence and proof of what really happened that night. First Burns used the excuse that they went through a red light where Rt 138 meets the Taunton green. That was Burns first lie. TMLP shows records that the so called red light they supposedly went through is a flashing yellow
Light from 12:00am to 6:00am. Ask them why they hid the rear bumper from the crash in the trunk of a Raynham
Police car and said they didn’t know what happened to it.
Ask them about the reddish paint on the front left of the
Taunton police car that matched the crashed cars paint.
Why did they try to buff it off, we’re the trying to hide something or tampering with evidence.
Why wasn’t Burns questioned about breaking every Vechiles chase pursuit law in the book.
I have many many more questions I could ask but I know I would get nothing but lies from Taunton Police like we got 19 years ago.
I have one more question that I felt should have proven Taunton Police and the so called upstanding Officer Burns
Why were the families told that the police backed off of the chase when after I went and questioned the people in the houses along Rt 138 just before the crash site said they saw the police cruiser right on the bumper of the car being chased, Officer Burns failed to mention that his speed in the cruiser was 110 MPH when he bumped them on the rear left side which threw them 16 feet into the air and into an oak tree which split the car in half killing my nephew Justin and his friend Eric.
It doesn’t surprise me that no charges were ever brought against Taunton PD or Burns because like most cops out there theses days are ABOVE THE LAWN.
Burns is a murderer and Taunton police knew it and covered it up. Burns knows what he did that night and will have to answer for It someday, karma will catch up to humans I hope he pays dearly. He stole them boys life that night and destroyed a lot of other people’s lives that night also.
Justin DeMello’s uncle
Wayne Perry