Chaos on Causeway: The night costumed people went berserk

What began as a pre-Halloween costume party at a North Station club ended in early morning mayhem, with two cops injured, an EMT whacked with a boot, a club manager hit in the face with a purse, at least one woman's wig ripped off her head, three arrested and a group of about 20 women assembling to brawl in the street outside, police told the Boston Licensing Board today.

An attorney for Big Night Live, 110 Causeway St., acknowledged a small fracas, around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 19 that involved two patrons, one of whom wound up attacking the club's manager with a purse and an EMT working a detail at the club with one of the boots she was carrying, but denied the club had anything to do with a second, far larger melee around 2:50 a.m. that drew so many combtants it shut down Causeway and left two BPD officers injured - one when he was smacked in the forehead with a phone, opening up a huge gash that temporarily blinded him because of all the blood pouring into his eyes.

Attorney Kristen Scanlon and the club's manager Jamie Pollock, said none of the people arrested that night were on the guest list at either Big Night Live or Ticketmaster - which sold tickets for the night's costume party - and that by the time the second set of fights had broken out, well after the club's 2 a.m. closing time, Big Night Live had already ushered all its patrons outside and that the sidewalk in front of the club was clear.

Scanlon said the brawlers could have been patrons from several other nearby watering holes, which also have 2 a.m. closing times, and that in any event, much of the fighting occurred across or down the street, not in any areas that Big Night Live security should be expected to deal with.

But BPD Sgt. Jeremiah Hogan, who responded to the scene and issued radio calls for help that brought officers from other parts of the city, as well as from Transit Police and State Police, said he asked people involved in the melee where they were coming from, and they answered "Big Night Live." Another clue, he said: Many of the combatants were wearing Halloween costumes and on Oct. 18/19, only Big Night Live hosted a Halloween party.

Police and club managers said that the 1:30 incident initially involved a couple of women arguing in a line. Club manager Jamie Pollock said he spotted the women in a heated discussion, stopped to calm them down and left them with both laughing, so he thought things were fine.

Not long after, though, one of the two came up to him and started yelling at him about him not doing his job, which she seems to have thought meant he deserved a good smack in the face with her purse - moments after she had been swinging around what one BPD officer at the hearing described as "tan, long boots with wooden heels" that she was carrying, not wearing. One of the boots made contact with the shoulder of a Boston EMT working at the large club on a detail assignment.

Neither Pollock nor the EMT were seriously hurt, although Pollock did get enough of a bruise to show arriving officers, who arrested the woman, Zaymaha Tyler, 23, on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault and battery on a public employee. She was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Oct. 21 and faces a Dec. 24 pre-trial conference, court records show. When police arrived, the woman she'd allegedly been arguing with was bleeding from the mouth, an officer said.

Things quieted down until shortly after 2:40 a.m., when an officer responded to the area on a report of a car crash in front of the North Station garage, only to find large groups of angry, fighty people.

"A wig was ripped off a female's head and left on the ground," an officer told the licensing board. The arriving officer's action in getting out of his cruiser to deal with the crash seemed to inflame the 50 or so people present and they began swarming the officer - and other officers who quickly arrived - although many of the people still on the street turned their fists on each other, completely blocking Causeway Street, to the point that officers racing to the scene had to drive down the bike lane to get there, he said.

At one point, the testifying officer said, about 20 women gathered in front of the garage entrance and began an all fists on deck battle.

The other officers on scene were "overrun and outnumbered" and the brawlers refused police requests and then demands to leave the area, he said, adding some instead took a break from fighting each other to begin to swarm officers.

One woman, Jasmine Maria Almeida-Clark, slammed her phone into an officer's forehead, not only dazing him, but opening up a large gash sent blood pouring into his eyes, the testifying officer sead. Almeida-Clark, 33, was arrested, and then arraigned on Oct. 21 on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer and affray. Court records show she is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Dec. 10.

Another officer was also injured and a third woman was also arrested: Derkijah Green, 24, was charged with assault and battery on a police officer and affray. She is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Dec. 11, court records show.

Scanlon and Pollock said that aside from the initial incident around 1:30 a.m., the night seemed to have gone well. The costume party was sponsored by Yellow Cup Weekend, a group that sponsors events highlighting "diversity, culture, music, art and community," with which Big Night Live has worked with before with no problems.

The two said that the club, which has a capacity of 2,600, never had more than 1,550 people inside so it was not overcrowded that night. The closing went smoothly, Pollock said: People began to be ushered out at 2 a.m., watched over by the 27 security guards and managers on duty, and by 2:25 a.m., the club's courtyard was clear and there were maybe 40 people on the Causeway Street sidewalk, seeming to move away in both directions.

He continued that at that point, the club's security workers moved back inside the club, to let the security company hired by landlord Boston Properties keep a watch on the exterior, and that they did not spot anything amiss, either.

He said that at one point, he did look outside and see a large fight outside the CVS across the street and that he called 911 to report it.

The licensing board could decide Thursday if Big Night Live has any responsibility for all the fighting and, if so, whether it could have done anything to prevent or minimize it. If the board concludes the club shares any of the blame, it then has to decide on a sanction.

Innocent, etc.