Ex-coach found guilty of stealing from club

Boston Globe

A former Chelsea High School football coach was convicted of larceny yesterday for withdrawing thousands of dollars from the team's booster club account to pay for personal expenses, according to the Suffolk district attorney's office.

A Suffolk Superior Court jury found James Atkins, 43, of Revere guilty of five counts of larceny over $250 and one count of larceny by check, Daniel F. Conley's office said. Atkins was acquitted of a sixth charge of larceny over $250.

His sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. today.

Prosecutors showed that Atkins, a Chelsea police sergeant suspended from duty and a former Medford High School football coach, used his position as coach of the Chelsea team and president of that team's booster club to withdraw nearly $10,000 from the team's bank account between 2004 and 2007.

Withdrawal records indicated that Atkins withdrew $500 at an ATM across from a Revere strip club; made three-figure withdrawals near the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut and the Seabrook Greyhound Park dog racing track in New Hampshire; and paid a $634 bar tab at the Champions Sports Bar at the Marriott Copley Place hotel in Boston.

In January 2007, at a meeting with Chelsea High School parents and the school's athletic director, Frank DePatto, Atkins agreed to repay the $8,200 in installments, prosecutors said. Instead, Atkins later asked for a charitable donation from a respected community member to put toward his outstanding debt, prosecutors said.

"It is always difficult when a police officer is found to have violated the law," Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes said in a statement.

Atkins's lawyer, Douglas Louison of Boston, maintained his client's innocence.

"I think every witness who testified said they were proud to know and be involved with Jim Atkins," Louison said. "No justice is done by convicting him of stealing money from the booster club he created and funded with his own personal monies. He put in over $50,000 of his own money into the program. It defies logic to say he stole money from the program."

Flirting incident at Medford Kelly’s Roast Beef leads to assaults

Three men flirting with a drive-through employee got more than they bargained for last Friday night when the girl’s boyfriend and six other men apparently took offense.

According to police reports, three men pulled up to Kelly’s Roast Beef on Revere Beach Parkway shortly before 12:30 a.m. on March 4 and ordered food. The girl at the drive-through took the order and asked the men to pull up to wait for their food.

The men asked if the girl could bring out the food, and pulled up.

The three said a while later, a man came up to their car and said he took offense that they were trying to pick up his girlfriend. The three went inside and complained to the manager, who gave them their money back.

As the victims approached their car to leave, they said two other cars surrounded them and six men got out. The victims said the man from earlier was also there and all of them were carrying sticks.

The victims said the men started beating them with the sticks. They then left, heading towards Route 28.

Police arriving on the scene found two of the victims with lacerations on their heads, covered with blood. The third victim had a cut on his forehead and nose and was complaining of having a chipped tooth.

The men described the original suspect, who was later identified as Ilir Sinaj, 23, of 139 Sigourney St., Revere. He was arrested and charged with three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

The other suspects have yet to be identified.

Medford Transcript - Wicked Local