Brawling, boozy BC senior gets Back Bay hotel hauled before licensing board

A combative Boston College senior who smelled of liquor but had the strength that may have come from another substance required several security and police officers to get him into a cruiser at the school's annual commencement ball at the Sheraton Boston on May 15, according to testimony at a Boston Licensing Board hearing this morning.

A Boston College police officer told the board he continues to suffer back pain from the wrestling match with the guy, who in-between battling - and trying to get the officer's gun - hurled repeated racial epithets and hawked numerous loogies at police and kept demanding to know if they knew who his father was. The officer said the kid refused to go through booking - even after his father, who turned out to be a lawyer - showed up at the D-4 police station.

The officer and a hotel security officer said the guy never even made it into the ball. When he showed up at the front door, apparently already high on something, he was refused entry, and security workers put him in a cab. But then he stopped the cab before it left the hotel entrance, got out, went up to a wall, unzipped his pants and began urinating on the wall, police and a hotel security worker said. When another hotel security officer told him to zip up and leave, he refused. When a security guard from the nearby Pru repeated the demand, they said, the kid lunged at him, grabbing him by his tie and shirt.

The BC officer, armed, and there as part of a detail to oversee the large event, arrived. The guy left the security officer alone and began to grapple with the cop and grabbed his holstered gun and seemed to be trying to put it out as they struggled, he said.

Andrew Upton, the hotel's attorney, said the hotel should not be punished because of what he said was an unfortunate aberration - especially since the guy never even got inside. He said the hotel has hosted the BC commencement ball for 25 years and had 46 of its own security officers on duty at the time and that it has always worked closely with the college to ensure it goes off without a hitch. He noted BC also takes it seriously - the dean of students was in attendance, in addition to two BC police officers.

"Counselor, I think you've more than met your burden (of proof)" that the hotel was not to blame for the incident, board Chairwoman Christine Pulgini said.

The board holds a formal vote Thursday on what to do about the citation.