Bartender testifies on drunken crowd in pub crawl case
4:59 PM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink
Email
 |
 |
Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
|
Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts
« Cranston woman died of stab wounds |
Main
| Ex-court janitor granted asylum due to domestic abuse »
By Katie Mulvaney PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A former bartender at The Red Parrot told the jury today that he saw an escalating confrontation between two groups of bargoers seconds before a Fairfield University student was killed under the wheels of a bus on a busy May night five years ago. Sean Caffrey was shutting the windows of the popular Thames Street restaurant after closing around 1 a.m., when he observed a crowd of drunken people spill onto the street from bars in the area, he said. A collection of five to seven men and women caught his eye. The two sides -- one in formal wear, the other not -- would surge toward each other and then separate. "It looked like a fight that may happen but most likely wouldn't," said Caffrey, a grad student who teaches geometry at Scituate High School. One woman was upset, her hands flailing, as if she was about to slap someone, he said. Then a bus turned right onto Thames, obscuring his vision. The next thing he saw was a man lying dead in the street, he said. Caffrey took the stand in Providence County Superior Court in the jury trial of two former University of Rhode Island students who are accused of contributing to the death of Francis J. Marx V, who was run over by a bus loaded with URI students returning from a pub crawl. The parents of Francis J. Marx V allege in a civil suit that Jarrad Rocheleau, of Cumberland, and Loren Welsh, of New Jersey, scuffled with their son, causing his death. Marx, of Richboro, Pa., was in Newport to attend a Wheaton College formal with his girlfriend. Marx and his friends headed downtown to go to a club when they got into a fight with some URI students in town for a pub crawl. Marx, who was to deliver the valedictory speech days later, either fell or was pushed into Thames Street and run over by a charter bus carrying URI students back to campus. After Marx's death, lawmakers passed a statewide ban on pub crawls in Rhode Island. Marx's parents brought a suit against Rocheleau, Welsh and others after a grand jury failed to indict anyone on criminal charges. The other defendants, including the City of Newport, have been released from the suit. The family is seeking $5 million in damages, Robert D. Parrillo, the family's lawyer, said.
|
Tags 
New comments
New photos
New posts
Projo blogs
Archives
Leave a comment
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.