Throngs on beach alarm Revere officials

Teens playing hooky are cited

REVERE - A repeat of last week's mass student hooky that led to a stabbing, arrests, and traffic gridlock at Revere Beach could happen again, with worse consequences, if communications among public safety officials do not improve and if state funding for beach patrols dries up, city councilors said yesterday.

Suggesting measures from installing metal detectors at Revere Beach T stations, to introducing metered parking and even using funds from possible expanded gambling to beef up police patrols at the beach, Revere city councilors called an emergency meeting yesterday to seek answers from state and MBTA police, as well as legislators, on how to prevent the events of last week from recurring.

"The Blizzard of '78 paled in comparison to what descended at Revere Beach that day," said Councilor George V. Colella, who was mayor in 1978 and who was at Revere Beach on the morning of April 28 when, according to State Police, about 3,000 middle and high school-age students, mainly from outside the city, came to Revere Beach by T and cars on a 93-degree day, during which many students decided to leave or skip school.

State and MBTA police made six arrests, including Dante Lara, 18, of Boston, who is accused of stabbing a self-proclaimed Latin Kings gang member in the head with a chisel, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office. Lara was arraigned last week and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Bail was set at $5,000 cash, and he was ordered to stay away from the victim, Revere Beach, and known Latin Kings members, said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney's office.

Wark said Reinaldo Ortiz, 25, of Dorchester, was also arrested, after driving the getaway car onto which Lara jumped after the alleged stabbing, leading transit police on a brief chase down Revere Beach Parkway and Beach Street.

Ortiz was arraigned last week and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, being an accessory after the fact, operating after suspension, and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, Wark said.

Henry Mateo, 18, of Roxbury, was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, Wark said, after he threatened the victim with the shaft of a hockey stick. Mateo did not appear at his arraignment last week, and there is a warrant for his arrest, Wark said.

Information on the other three arrested was not available from Chelsea District Court, but State Police Major Daniel Grabowski told the council yesterday that the arrests included drinking in public.

Students quickly spread word of the skip day by way of texting and social sites like MySpace and Facebook, a fact that concerned Revere City Council President Daniel Rizzo.

"The most disturbing thing to me is how fast something like this can organize itself and put public safety in great jeopardy," Rizzo said. "They did identify rival gangs that were on the beach known to carry firearms, and thank God nothing exploded with all those kids down there. We weren't prepared for it."

Grabowski told the council that because of cutbacks, the state will eliminate funding for dedicated patrols on Revere Beach starting on Memorial Day weekend, but added that the State Police will not give up their responsibilities at the beach.

State Representative Kathie-Anne Reinstein of Revere told the council yesterday that the State Police Revere Beach patrol budget was slashed from $2.7 million to $1.65 million this year as a result of Governor Deval Patrick's midyear cuts.

Reinstein added that in his proposed fiscal year 2010 budget earlier this year, Patrick eliminated all funding to that account, but that on Friday the House budget restored $1.35 million to that account.

But with the state facing a $5 billion deficit, Reinstein warned the council there is a chance funding will be further reduced or possibly eliminated by the time the budget is completed.

"I appreciate you putting back what you can put back, but I just don't see these numbers anywhere near workable," Councilor Anthony T. Zambuto told Reinstein. "It's going to be devastating.

"These numbers are very scary when it comes to public safety," he said, "if we're expecting any level of protection."