Off-Duty New Jersey Police Officer Pleads Guilty To Assault In Boston Pizza Shop
BOSTON (CBS) -- A police officer from New Jersey pleaded guilty Tuesday for his role in a pizza shop beating but will not go to prison. Daniel Hunt, 27, of Barrington, NJ, pleaded guilty to assault and battery for the Jan. 19 incident in a Boylston street pizza shop that left a Boston College hockey player seriously hurt.
Hunt is a police officer for Haddon Heights, NJ but he was placed on administrative leave.
Kevin Lohan, the BC hockey player, was injured and had to have his jaw wired shut.
"He had to undergo surgery to his mouth, jaw and face," prosecutor Judith Lyons said in court Tuesday. "His jaw was wired shut for approximately three weeks, and permanent metal plates were implanted into his jaw and cheek."
Surveillance video showed a group of men walk into a pizza shop on Boylston Street and say something to Lohan and his girlfriend. A verbal back and forth began and minutes later, Lohan was pushed, punched, and tackled to the ground.
"This case has obviously been very difficult for myself but as well as my family and it's extended just way beyond me," Lohan said in court.
He was not happy with the plea agreement which only puts Hunt on probation for two years.
"It just is mind boggling to think that he's a police officer and he knows better and he still acted in the way he did," Lohan said.
And Lohan's father voiced his frustration at Hunt as he walked out a free man. "He hid in Southern New Jersey, he hid and he's trying to claim that he has remorse for his actions," Lohan's father said.
Ian Salerno, 29, of Philadelphia, was also charged for his involvement in the fight. His trial is in February and it is unlikely he will walk away with probation.
