Fritznel Jean, 28, was arraigned Monday in Roxbury Municipal Court and pleaded not guilty to charges that he assaulted transit police officers at Mbta headquarters in Boston. He was ordered held on $100 cash bail, and his bail in a separate Quincy case was revoked for 60 days.
Prosecutors said the violence erupted around 8:20 a.m. Friday while officials were processing Jean before his court appearance on a Quincy shoplifting case. Jean had been arrested the night before and shouted that he “wanted to go free” when an officer opened the cell door to escort him to the fingerprinting station, according to a statement from Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’s office.
Hayden said Jean lunged at the officer, jumped onto his back and bit him on the back of the head. As other officers rushed in, Jean allegedly scratched and gouged the first officer’s eyes, driving his thumbs forcefully into the officer’s eye sockets, while also trying to bite another officer’s hand before he was restrained. Paramedics evaluated all of the injured officers.
The first officer suffered severe bruising, burst blood vessels in both eyes and a cut on his left bottom eye that required two stitches. Hayden called it “an extraordinary burst of violence that hurt one officer and endangered all the others involved,” and said he thanked the officers for restraining Jean before he could cause more injuries.
The case shows how a routine booking can turn violent in seconds. Jean is due back in court on May 12.
