Updated 9:50 pm
Trevor Maciel was charged for his alleged role in a brawl at the Cardboard Box in Oak Bluffs early Sunday morning.
During his arraignment before Edgartown District Court Judge Edward Lynch Monday morning, Maciel pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, interfering with a police investigation, malicious destruction of property, and disorderly conduct. A formal reading of the charges was waived; however, Oak Bluffs Police Sgt. Daniel Cassidy, who was one of the officers who responded to the incident, relayed the charges to The Times in a telephone interview. Those charges were later reflected in a police report. Sgt. Cassidy told The Times Maciel allegedly punched Officer Seth Harlow in the face and attacked Harlow in other ways that damaged his radio and uniform.During the midnight hour, Sgt. Cassidy said, Oak Bluffs Police were monitoring the closure of Circuit Avenue bars. Cassidy described the volume of people out that night as the largest in recent memory.
At some point he said officers overhead a chant of “fight, fight, fight” emanating from the Cardboard Box. However a police report indicates a patron alerted Sgt. Cassidy and Officer Harlow that there was a fight.
“[A] bar patron of the Cardboard Box gestured to us that there was a fight in the bar,” a report states.
By the time officers made their way down into the bar, the fight appeared over, and a person with a “bleeding face” was escorted out, but wasn’t transported by ambulance, Cassidy said. While in the process of gathering information, Cassidy said, Harlow was assaulted by Maciel. Maciel allegedly damaged Harlow’s radio and ripped off his lapel insignia during the attack. Cassidy alleged Maciel only stopped when the officer threatened to use his Taser. Maciel was subsequently arrested.
Cassidy said Trevor’s father, Troy Maciel, was present but hasn’t been charged with anything. Cassidy did not identify the individual who exited bloodied, nor who may have assaulted that person. He said the person who was bloodied reported leaving a bathroom and being punched.
Trevor Maciel and his father Troy recently were the subject of a proceeding before the Edgartown board of health. After a bill dispute, the Maciels returned to a septic system they had recently pumped out and pumped septage back into the system. Their company was hit with a $500 fine and given a 15-day suspension by the board.
On Monday, Judge Lynch allowed a motion to preserve evidence made by Maciel’s attorney, Robb Moriarty.
Maciel was released on $300 bail, and is expected back in court on July 2 for a pretrial hearing.
Report outlines a dramatic arrest
Harlow’s report indicates he and Sgt. Cassidy entered the Cardboard Box with Officer James Bishop and “could see a commotion in the back by the entrance to [the] bathroom.”
Cassidy made his way through the crowd, according to a report, “and located a male … , bleeding profusely from his nose.”
The man was guided out of the bar to an ambulance for an evaluation, according to a report.
“One of [the man’s] friends, Matthew Cote, identified himself to us as a Massachusetts Trooper and told us that he witnessed the fight. He told me that his friend got ‘sucker punched’ as he was walking out of the bathroom,” a report states.
Cote described the person who threw the punch as “an older male wearing a blue shirt” and also wearing “a trucker-style hat” that had a white back. Cote pointed out the individual, according to a report, and he was later identified as Troy Maciel.
“The bar crowd was calm at this time, the lights had been turned on, and most of the people had left or were leaving,” a report states. “As I was waiting for Troy to walk past me, an unknown male, later identified as Trevor Maciel, stood next to me and start[ed] posturing, squaring his body toward me while [holding] his arms slightly off his sides. I asked if he needed any help, and he just looked at me angrily. Troy got closer, and I told him I needed to speak to him. Trevor then forced me out of the way and put himself between me and Troy. I told him that I need to talk to Troy, and Trevor started becoming belligerent, yelling, ‘You’re not talking to my dad, what did he do?’”
Harlow states in his report that he told Trevor Maciel an investigation into a fight was underway, and Troy Maciel “was believed” to be involved.
“I ordered Trevor to move several more times, but he refused,” a report states. “Trevor then attempted to push me out of the way. When I reached out to control Trevor’s behavior, Trevor attempted to hit me. He grabbed at my vest, and I decided to take him to the ground. Once on the ground, Trevor amped up his attempts to fight me. He grabbed my COVID mask and ripped it off. He then grabbed at my radio, breaking the clip. He also started punching at my face, making contact at least once.”
Harlow later found his collar pin and tactical response team pin had been ripped from his uniform, according to a report. Other officers interceded to aid Harlow.
“Matthew Cote, the off-duty trooper, immediately assisted me in controlling Trevor by immobilizing his legs,” a report states. “Officer Bishop was able to control the crowd, and attempted to radio for backup without success. He had to run to the windows and signal to [Officer Noah Stobie, and Officer Michael Maliff] that we needed assistance.”
Maliff and Stobie joined the effort to subdue Trevor Maciel.
“Officer Maliff and I were attempting to get Trevor’s arms behind his back to handcuff him, but he kept pulling his left arm out and using that arm to pull my leg toward his face in an attempt to bite me,” a report states. “I then deployed my Taser and placed it on Trevor’s back. I advised him that he was going to be tased if he didn’t comply. Several people in the bar also yelled for Trevor to comply or he would be tased. Trevor eventually put his hand back, and Officer Maliff was able to handcuff him.”
Maciel “continued to verbally assault officers” and use his body to “push off of walls or go limp” as he was led from the bar, forcing officers to carry him, according to a report. Officers were able to escort Maciel across the street, away from a crowd outside the Cardboard Box.
“Trevor then started to fight officers by throwing his body weight at us,” a report states. “I decided to bring him to the ground to stop his attacks and keep both officers and Trevor from getting injured.”
At one point a friend of Maciel’s, who was “intoxicated,” according to a report, laid down next to Maciel to calm him.
“At this time I heard someone from the crowd yell, ‘They’re taking him into the alley to beat him,’ the report states. “A large group then surrounded us, and even though officers were not holding Trevor down or using contact control on him at all, onlookers started yelling that we were kneeling on his neck. “
Stobie drove a cruiser up to Maciel and the officers. Maciel was brought to the cruiser. “He refused to get into the vehicle and we had to use force to get him in,” the report states. “Trevor then attempted to kick me and force the cruiser door open. Officer Maliff was able to pull Trevor into the cruiser from the opposite side. Trevor was still able to push on the door with his feet, and as I was attempting to close the door the onlookers were yelling that we were slamming the door on his neck, when it was more than obvious that it was Trevor’s feet that were pushing at the door.”
Once the cruiser door was shut, Stobie attempted to drive away, according to a report,
“but onlookers were blocking the cruiser and videotaping him.” Those onlookers eventually allowed the cruiser to proceed.
The report indicates the man didn’t want to press charges, and refused medical attention. Troy Maciel tried to “get to” the officers, but “eventually Troy’s friends were able to remove him from the scene.”
Updated with additional information. An earlier version of this story indicated a police radio was destroyed, however only its clip was damaged.
