BROCKTON – The owner of the former JJ’s pub, Patricia Harrison, 59, and her longtime boyfriend Wayne Cummings, 49, were arraigned on arson charges in the fire that destroyed the former bar at 16 Liberty Street, Hanson, last July, along with Alfred Russo, 75, who was previously accused of setting the fire.

Russo, Harrison and Cummings, all of Bourne, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Russo faces one count of burning of a dwelling and two counts of arson causing injuries to firefighters while Harrison and Cummings face one count each of burning of a dwelling.

The three appeared at Plymouth Superior Court at Brockton Friday, Oct. 26 before Judge Robert C. Cosgrove.

The assistant district attorney, Alex Zane, presented over 130 exhibits to the three defense attorneys, saying that they represented the culmination of a very long grand jury investigation. Russo is a friend of Harrison and Cummings, say police reports.

Russo, a retired Boston firefighter, was arrested last August, while Harrison and Cummings were arraigned on “direct indictments,” meaning that the matter never went to District Court, just before the grand jury. Now that the matter is in the Superior Court, the District Court proceedings are obviated.

According to the ADA, most troubling to him was the alleged fact that all three were in “precarious financial situations” – Harrison stood to gain $250,000 in insurance payouts–and were illegally consuming prescription drugs and heavily consuming alcohol, leading the judge to order all three to remain drug and alcohol free while awaiting trial.

Russo already had this condition imposed, and while Cosgrave kept it in place for him, the judge did remove the condition that he wear a GPS ankle bracelet that was used in an exclusionary manner to keep him away from the crime scene.

Harrison, according to Zane, was taking Vicodin, a narcotic pain killer, before being called as a witness before the grand jury and was asked not to take the stand because her demeanor had changed so much after consuming the pills, which she said were for an old car accident.

Zane also alleged that Russo had joked, “What’s the big deal?” and “I better get a passport,” when confronted with the allegations.

In a previous interview with the Express, Russo blamed the fire on “spontaneous combustion” and noted that his presence there on the date of the fire, which he freely admits, was a “bad coincidence.”

Russo’s Falmouth- and Taunton-based attorney, Drew Segadelli, said in a phone interview with the Express that there are other possible people that could have burnt down the building, including a “firebug,” common slang for an arsonist, who was investigated, and he says not held, at the time of the JJ’s pub arson.

The alleged serial arsonist Segadelli is apparently referring to, Mark Sargent, who investigators say committed many arsons, including one at this building, was held on $100,000 bail and ordered to home confinement and to wear a GPS bracelet if he posted bail. Sargent, according to court personnel, was being held without bail at the time of the fire, as he still is, although Segadelli suggests Sargent as an alternative to Russo in the case of the arson.

“I think that’s kind of jaw-dropping,” said Segadelli, referring to Sargent not being investigated in this case.

“Who knows the real truth? None of us were there, we just defend our people,” said Segadelli.

Maybe it’s not even an arson at all, he suggested. “They’ve got to exclude all other possibilities…to prove this is an arson,” he said.

Segadelli emphasized Russo’s age, disability and length of service with the Boston Fire Department in terms of his defense.

The fire, according to Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson, III, reached nearly four alarms and totally destroyed the abandoned commercial property adjacent to the intersections of Liberty Street and East and West Washington Streets.

It sent two firefighters to the hospital, Lt. Sherilyn Mullin and Timothy Royer, who both sustained heat-related injuries and had to miss some work due to these injuries, stated court documents, and an Express photographer also was treated at a hospital due to injuries sustained in the course of her work.

The fire took some time to extinguish, due to the full involvement of the structure, according to a previous statement from the district attorney, and many towns and the state responded or provided station coverage for Hanson during the incident, according to Thompson, putting many lives at risk.

The chief has been outspoken at times, in the media and on Twitter, about this fire and especially about Russo’s release. He was present in court along with several Hanson firefighters, but did not wish to comment on the removal of Russo’s GPS bracelet.

Video surveillance from Dandel Construction Corporation was used to identify “a party” park a vehicle on the side of the abandoned building, enter through a door and remain inside for nearly eight minutes, according to reports.

The party then exits, enters a vehicle and drives away. About six minutes after the party exits the structure, smoke is visible venting from the roof, it continues. Less than nine minutes later, fire is visible out of a side window.

Police and prosecutors allege this party was Russo.

When investigators went to meet Russo at his home in Bourne two weeks after the incident, police say he, “spontaneously stated that he was driving his Jeep in Hanson on the day of the fire.”

Russo stated that he had been in Hanson on the day of the fire for a cookout at Cummings’ sister’s house but didn’t end up attending because he didn’t feel well, according to the report.

He freely admitted to driving to the JJ’s Pub property, purportedly to move a generator, but said he never went inside, according to police.

They are next scheduled for a pre-trial conference in Plymouth Superior Court at Plymouth on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m.

HANSON – At 3:22 p.m., on July 5, 2018, temperatures hit a daily high of 94 degrees, 28 minutes into a major four-hour firefighting effort at the former JJ’s Pub, 16 Liberty St., according to a State Police report at Plymouth District Court and unofficial climate data collected by the National Weather Service. That Thursday was among the hottest days of the summer.

Prosecutors allege that the three-alarm fire was intentionally set by Alfred C. Russo, 75, of Bourne. Russo was arrested at his Buzzards Bay home by Massachusetts State Police Wednesday, Aug. 29, according to a statement from the office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz. He was transported to Plymouth District Court and arraigned on three charges: one count of burning of a dwelling and two counts of arson causing injuries to a firefighter.

Russo was a 26-year veteran of the Boston Fire Department, joining in 1969 and retiring as a firefighter assigned to the Marine Unit in 1995.

Represented by attorney Edward Wells, Russo appeared before Judge James M. Sullivan and pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents. Although the Commonwealth asked for $15,000 bail, Sullivan released him with a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet on personal recognizance, disappointing Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr.

Sullivan is first justice of Plymouth District Court, according to the court’s website.

Chief’s Outrage

Thompson took to his personal Twitter account to express his displeasure Wednesday evening, which was widely reported by area news media.

“This guy put two of my firefighters in the hospital. Several firefighters and public at risk and stripped our neighboring communities of their firefighting assets and gets out on personal recognizance with an ankle bracelet. Very disappointing to say the least,” tweeted Thompson. “Law Enforcement worked diligently on this case. The District Attorney asked for $15,000 bail. Very disappointed with the Judge,” he continues.

Speaking to the Express Monday morning, he said, “I was very pleased with the law enforcement effort…I’m not a judge. I’m not a prosecutor, but I think some of the circumstances warranted that he be held.”

Thompson added, “I don’t usually speak out. But this stripped firefighting resources from other towns, involved road closures, and we had to cut the power, which also affected businesses. … I think it’s very disturbing, if he is guilty, that he is a former firefighter.”

Russo denies all allegations.

The fire, which Thompson said nearly reached four alarms, totally destroyed the approximately five-year abandoned commercial property adjacent to the intersections of Liberty Street and East and West Washington Streets. Investigators deemed it to be an estimated $400,000 loss, according to court documents.

It sent two firefighters, Lieutenant Sherilyn Mullin and Timothy Royer, to area hospitals with heat-related injuries. Both had to miss some work due to their injuries, according to court documents.

An Express photographer was also hospitalized for heat-related illness after covering the incident.

The fire took some time to extinguish, due to the full involvement of the structure, according to the statement from the district attorney, and many towns and the state responded or provided station coverage for Hanson during the incident, according to Thompson.

The response included personnel and equipment from Abington, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Kingston, Pembroke, Rockland, Whitman, as well as the Whitman Community Emergency Response Team and the Department of Fire Services Rehab Unit from Middleboro.

In a police interview, the owner of the Hanson property, identified as Patricia Harrison, of Bourne, says she and the defendant, Russo, a friend, were together at her home when she received a call from her real estate agent about the fire. Harrison’s longtime boyfriend, Wayne Cummings, says he was out walking the dog when he received word of the fire from Harrison.

Yet, both Harrison and Cummings identified Russo’s Jeep, in Hanson, when shown it in later interviews from cameras across from JJ’s Pub at times proximate to the fire, according to the State Police report.

Video Evidence

Video surveillance from Dandel Construction Corporation was used to identify a party parking a vehicle on the side of the building, who then entered through a door and remained inside for nearly eight minutes, according to the report. The party then exited, entered a vehicle and drove away. About six minutes after the party exits the structure, smoke is visible venting from the roof, it continues. Less than nine minutes later, fire is visible out of a side window.

When investigators went to meet Russo at his home in Bourne two weeks after the incident, police say he, “spontaneously stated that he was driving his Jeep in Hanson on the day of the fire.”

Russo, who was then taken for a voluntary interview at the Bourne Police Department, stated that he had been in Hanson on the day of the fire for a cookout at Cummings’ sister’s house, but didn’t end up attending because he didn’t feel well, according to the report.

He freely admitted to driving to the JJ’s Pub property, purportedly to move a generator, but said he never went inside, according to police.

Russo spoke at length to the Express, reached on his cellphone Monday afternoon, saying that he was “shocked” and “sickened” by the fire.

“Do you want something to print?” he asked as he chuckled. “I’m proclaiming my innocence.”

His statements echoed those that he made to the police. He said that he was in Hanson primarily to attend a cookout, but that he had taken a medication for his acid reflux since he was not feeling well.

He then said he went to the JJ’s Pub property to move a generator behind the building with his trailer, at the request of Cummings, the second reason he was in Hanson that day.

Russo denied going inside the pub and said his presence there before the fire was just a coincidence.

“It’s a bad coincidence, but some coincidences are just coincidences,” he said. “When I left that building it wasn’t burning.”

Good Reputation

“I have a good reputation with the fire department, why in God’s name would I set that fire? It doesn’t make sense.” Russo said. “Everything that they have is circumstantial. … I was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Russo blamed the fire on spontaneous combustion from trash and oily rags inside the building, stating how hot it had been the week of the fire.

“It’s also a problematic location,” he said, adding that there had been a recent arson nearby.

When questioned on the subject, he said that he had never seen a case of spontaneous combustion in his 26-year career as a Boston firefighter, but that special investigators, not firefighters make that determination.

The lead investigator on the case was Massachusetts State Police Trooper Thomas Berteletti, a detective from the Fire and Explosion Investigation Section attached to the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s office.

Fire investigations are, “witness-driven and multi-jurisdictional. … Specially trained Massachusetts State Police detectives have functioned as State Fire Marshal investigators for more than 50 years,” according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

“By law, the local fire department is responsible for determining the origin and cause of each fire or explosion in its jurisdiction. The Massachusetts State Fire Marshal is mandated to investigate the cause and circumstances of fires and explosions where local fire authorities are unable to determine the cause, where a violation of law exists, or when the fire or explosion is classified as suspicious or incendiary in nature,” according to their webpage.

Fire’s Cause

The cause of the JJ’s Pub fire was preliminarily determined to be, “open flame to combustible material,” according to court documents as well as, “either ignited in multiple locations or…the fire was accelerated by the use of an ignitable liquid or heavy concentration of combustibles throughout the interior.”

The Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Section, Hanson Police and Hanson Fire Departments investigated, and the investigation is ongoing, said the district attorney’s office.

“Arson fires have a certain look to them. And they bulldozed that building. I don’t know why they did that. Also, why would someone set a fire in the middle of the day? That’s not something an arsonist would do,” Russo declared.

He is scheduled to be in court Monday, Oct. 15, for a probable cause hearing.

Harrison and Cummings could not be reached for comment.

HALIFAX– A man who drowned while boating at Silver Lake Friday, June 3, has been recovered and identified. Shi Hu, 28, of Boston, was found in the water shortly after noon, Sunday, June 5, by State Police divers, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.

Local officials said that  at approximately 1:23 p.m., Friday, June 3, the Halifax Fire Department and the Halifax Police Department responded to a report that an individual had fallen into the water and was struggling offshore from the Brockton-owned water treatment facility located on Route 36, situated on Silver Lake straddling the Halifax/Pembroke line.

There were multiple witnesses to the incident, both from the water and shore, saying they believed the victim was fishing with a friend, according to officials. The friend was in a canoe, and the victim was in a kayak, which then overturned.

The friend attempted to reach the victim before he went underwater, but was unable to reach him in time. An investigation into how the drowning exactly occurred is ongoing. The victim was not believed to be wearing a life preserver, multiple sources say.

During the initial response, employees at the water treatment facility assisted firefighters by shuttling them on a facilities boat to the last known position of the victim. That initial search was not successful, at which time Halifax officials called for assistance from the State Police, Environmental Police and the Plymouth County Technical Response Team (Dive Unit).

More than a dozen Plymouth County communities responded, and scores of rescuers from local and state agencies were quickly on scene with specialized equipment, coordinated by Halifax Fire Chief Jason Vivieros.

Rescuers suspended the search on Friday evening, after a herculean effort to locate the missing boater with no success. By Saturday morning, the search and rescue mission had grimly turned into a recovery operation.

The State brought in a mobile command post and other assets to assist with the recovery efforts. Personnel from as far away as Rhode Island were seen and a staging area for divers was bustling with activity as firefighters, police, and others supported the efforts of divers in the lake from shore.

Advanced “side-scan” sonar was used to scour the lake bottom, along with cameras and other technologies, which had very low visibility, say sources. Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) uses sound waves to find and identify objects in the water. Side-scan sonar is a specialized system for detecting objects at the bottom of a body of water.

At around 11 a.m., Saturday, about a half-dozen family members of the victim arrived, and appeared to speak with various officials, who sources say updated them on the recovery efforts. They could be seen, visibly distraught, under a tent set up on a lawn near the mobile command post.

Local firefighters and police were seen comforting them and providing them with water and other amenities. The family members left after about two hours. Members of the press were politely asked to keep their distance, which they did, although distraught crying could be heard from hundreds of feet away.

On Sunday, the decedent was finally recovered, under gray skies and a light rain. Although State Police say they actually made the recovery, they did note that it was a “cooperative mission.” Within a couple of hours, almost everyone had left, leaving behind just a handful of law enforcement and fire officials.

Officials say they do not yet know how the man gained access to the lake (and if so, if it was via the treatment facility), although Halifax Police Chief Edward Broderick mentioned that Silver Lake is a popular fishing area, where fishing may be, “Tolerated…”, but, “not encouraged.”

Use of the lake is restricted because it is a component of the City of Brockton water supply. “No Trespassing” signs are widely visible around Silver Lake. Motor boats and swimming are strictly prohibited, but other restrictions Brockton puts on the lake were not specifically known.  Broderick could not say if the man was trespassing on the lake at the time of the incident.

The Plymouth County Tactical Response Unit, via Twitter, thanked all of the responding agencies. In a statement late Sunday evening, Chief Broderick on behalf of the Town of Halifax said, “Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of [the victim of] this tragedy.”