One Person Killed in Patriots' Revelry

Feb. 2, 2004
Thousands of New England Patriots fans swarmed into the streets after the team's white-knuckle Super Bowl win, and some turned rowdy, flipping over cars and lighting small fires. One person was killed when an SUV backed into a group of revelers.
BOSTON (AP) -- Thousands of New England Patriots fans swarmed into the streets after the team's white-knuckle Super Bowl win, and some turned rowdy, flipping over cars and lighting small fires. One person was killed when an SUV backed into a group of revelers.

In Kenmore Square near Fenway Park, college-aged fans thronged the streets around garbage fires. A local television station reported that one of its vans was vandalized, and the crew had be escorted from the area by police.

Across town near Northeastern University, fans flipped about a half dozen cars. Several people were injured, one fatally and another critically, when the SUV backed into a crowd of revelers, then sped off, interim Boston Police Commissioner James Hussey said Monday.

The driver was arrested a short distance away and was scheduled to be arraigned on charges including vehicular homicide, drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident, Hussey said.

``It's time we take a hard look at how we have a good time in this city in regards to celebrating victories in the Super Bowl,'' Hussey said.

In the city's busy Allston neighborhood, which is home to many students and has many bars and nightclubs, firefighters hosed down revelers in hopes of dispersing the crowd.

Police did not immediately provide information about arrests. Crowds had dispersed by about 1:30 a.m.

While some fans got rowdy, others just gloated over the team's 32-29 win over the Carolina Panthers.

John Dunleavy was confident the Patriots could pull out the win even after the Panthers tied the game with little more than a minute left.

``As long as we had some time left, I knew (Patriots quarterback Tom) Brady could do something,'' he said.

The city plans a noontime rally Tuesday at City Hall Plaza, where two years ago about 1.2 million fans celebrated the Patriots' Super Bowl win over the St. Louis Rams.

At the University of Rhode Island and the University of New Hampshire, where disruptions had followed Red Sox playoff games last fall, there were no reports of trouble. But at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, police in riot gear cleared out a crowd of hundreds of fans in the Southwest residential area when they set a fire and refused to disperse.

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Firehouse, create an account today!