Club Co-Owner Indicted After Shooting
Police Say Man Lied During Investigation
POSTED: 1:09 pm EDT July 13,
2009
UPDATED: 1:50 pm EDT July 13,
2009
BOSTON -- The co-owner of a Boston nightclub was indicted Monday in connection with a shooting outside the downtown establishment.Shawn Donovan, 29, of Billerica, was accused of urging witnesses to destroy evidence and lying to Boston police as they investigated a Jan. 1 shooting outside the Revolution Rock Bar.Officials said Donovan told a photographer who was at the club that night to destroy photographs that showed the gunman inside the club.Each of the charges carries up to 10 years in state prison."The evidence suggests that he not only lied to police about a shooting outside his club, but also suborned others to destroy material evidence about that shooting," Suffolk County District attorney Daniel F. Conley said. "There's no reason a legitimate businessman would try to thwart an investigation like that. Club owners should take notice of this case -- we won’t punish you for someone else's crime, but if you try to cover it up or mislead investigators, then we’re coming down on you hard."Prosecutors allege that Donovan lied to Boston Police detectives when he told them he didn’t know Mario Mendez, who was later identified as the shooter, when they interviewed him in the hours and days following the shooting.Prosecutors also allege that Donovan instructed a photographer who was taking pictures inside the club prior to the shooting to destroy any photographs of Mendez, including one that showed Donovan and Mendez together arm in arm.Despite Donovan’s alleged efforts, Mendez was identified as the individual who fired as many as five shots at the 29-year-old victim, with whom he had argued inside the club shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 1.During the execution of a search warrant on Mendez' Chelsea home, investigators said that they found three loaded handguns, 99 vials of steroids, more than 900 Ecstasy tablets and quantities of both cocaine and OxyContin. He is currently charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and multiple drug offenses.
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