Teen had run-in prior to fatal shot

Clashed with officers 3 days before, police say


Three days before his deadly encounter with police, Manny “Junior’’ DaVeiga had a violent run-in with officers in the same neighborhood, at the same intersection where he would die in the midst of a chaotic gunfight, according to a police report.

Last Wednesday afternoon, DaVeiga, 19, was standing with a group of other youths at a makeshift street memorial for a friend who had recently been killed, the report says. When the police approached them, DaVeiga allegedly taunted the three officers, screaming obscenities and raising his middle finger. They frisked him, found a folding knife in his pocket, and tried to handcuff him as he pushed them to get away, the report says. As he struggled, he allegedly broke off the mirror from a cruiser, while the crowd around the officers and DaVeiga grew, with up to 40 people yelling at police and one man shoving an officer.

Tensions erupted again between police and the crowd after DaVeiga’s death Saturday night in an exchange of gunfire with officers; the Suffolk district attorney says DaVeiga killed himself during that gunfight. Since then, police have been ordered to ride in tandem in cruisers, not alone, because police were threatened after the shootout.

The report sheds light on the tumultuous history between Boston police and DaVeiga, who had been associated with a Cape Verdean gang and had a history of mental illness, according to court records.

Yesterday, community and religious leaders said many people have questions about what happened the night DaVeiga died, and are anxious for the results of a full investigation.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has said that DaVeiga began shooting at four officers, one of them a state trooper, after they tried to speak with him Saturday night in the area of Winter Street and Navillus Terrace, near the makeshift memorial to Andrew Tavares, a Dorchester 17-year-old and friend of DaVeiga’s, who had been killed on Maywood Street.

When police saw DaVeiga near the memorial, he allegedly turned to shoot at them. The four officers fired back, prosecutors said. DaVeiga sustained gunshots to his hip, hand, chest, and head. Prosecutors said the head wound was self-inflicted.

But Lynn Currier, executive director of Haitkaah Social Justice Project, which does youth advocacy work around the city, said the idea that the young man would have committed suicide in the midst of gunfire is “illogical.’’

“I’ve never in my life heard of a youth running with three shots in their body, stopping . . . reloading, and shooting [himself],’’ she said.

Jorge Martinez, executive director of Project RIGHT, said he believes the actions by police were justified, but that many in the community, particularly Cape Verdeans, believe police used unnecessary force.

“Fifty percent of the people were glad that the shooter went down and the other 50 percent think it was police abuse,’’ he said. “The Boston police are in a lot of trouble. They’re going to have to make amends to the Cape Verdean community, whether they were right or wrong.’’

Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said homicide detectives are working “day in and day out’’ with Suffolk prosecutors, who will determine whether any criminal charges are warranted against the four officers.

“What we’re attempting to do is get as much information as possible as quickly as possible,’’ he said.

Thomas Drechsler, a lawyer who is representing the city officers, said the actions of the men that night were justified. The officers have not been identified, but none of the city officers have any disciplinary records, he said.

“The young man put the officers in a position where they had no choice but to fire at him,’’ Drechsler said. “The officers acted in a very courageous manner.’’

According to court records, DaVeiga had a long history of mental illness. Last May, several months after he was arrested for assault and battery on a police officer, he was admitted to Bridgewater State Hospital for evaluation. DaVeiga was often depressed, self-medicated with marijuana and alcohol, and said he had hallucinations — he complained of seeing hockey pucks fly at him, according to a June 2009 report written by a hospital psychologist. At 13, he said, he stabbed his brother because voices in his head told him to, the 33-page report stated.

He underwent psychiatric evaluations several times as a teenager and was diagnosed with several conditions, including bipolar disorder and posttraumatic stress syndrome.

But the psychologist concluded that as long as DaVeiga kept taking his medications, he was not dangerous and did not need to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. After his encounter with police last Wednesday, he was released on $300 bail, according to court records. Three days later, he was dead.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/07/teen_had_run_in_prior_to_fatal_shot/

By Maria Cramer
Globe Staff / April 7, 2010

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