Officer at the Scene of Daniel Talbot's Murder Faces Dismissal

Officer Daniel Talbot (My Fox Boston)

More Daniel Talbot news coming out of Revere. It was reported today that the ranking officer on the scene of the Talbot murder last September faces dismissal from the force due to his behavior. As I reported back in November, it was determined that Sergeant Evan Franklin of the Revere Police Department was on the scene when Officer Talbot and his posse got into a verbal altercation with Derek Lodie, who allegedly called up Robert Iacoviello, Jr. who came upon the scene. Then, according to Franklin's lawyer, the group of officers approached Lodie and Iacoviello anticipating a fistfight. Talbot was hit in the head and died a day later, while no one else was hit and the police officers who returned fire (Officers Soto and Bruzzese) were unable to hit the shooter. Numerous questions about this case remain unanswered, but if Sergeant Franklin's behavior is any indication, something is not right about this entire situation.

In a scalding letter, Revere Police Chief Terence K. Reardon lays out Franklin's conduct that night and why he should no longer be a police officer. The story goes as follows: Once the shooting started and Officers Soto and Bruzzese returned fire, Franklin bolted from the scene. Reardon says that Franklin ran "a considerable distance from the scene," and came upon on-duty officer Robert Impemba. Franklin, being a sergeant, ordered Impemba to drive him home (apparently Franklin was so drunk that Impemba had to help him out of the back seat of the cruiser). When Impemba asked Franklin if everything was OK, Franklin lied and said yes. The lies continued, as Franklin, who neglected to let the department know that an officer had been shot, lied to State Troopers about how he got home and that he did not know that someone had been shot.

Sergeant Evan Franklin (Christopher King Blog)

Now Franklin's lawyer, Neil Rossman, claims that one of the reasons that Franklin did not stick around was because he was unarmed. Chief Reardon addresses this in his letter, because apparently Franklin left his department-issued handgun in the back of Officer Soto's car, which was unlocked (which violates department rules and state law.) Rossman also said that people should not criticize his client for his behavior because all the officers were drunk and lured into an ambush. So I guess it's official that the officers were drunk. Also, Franklin was the only one to run (even Talbot's fiance, who is not trained in police tactics and was also [assumedly] unarmed appears to have stuck around.) It seems there is little, if anything, that can justify the way that Franklin acted in this situation. Franklin was also chastised by Chief Reardon for not discouraging his comrades from breaking the law by drinking in public (him being the ranking officer). Of course, this is not the first time that Sergeant Evan Franklin has run afoul of the law. According to the Daily Item of Lynn, Franklin and a friend (Todd Randall) were involved in a two-car accident on Route 1 in August of 1995 and fled the scene on foot. The two men were soon to graduate from the police academy, but resigned from the force following the incident. Franklin was re-hired after going through the police academy again in May 1997.

Revere Mayor Thomas Ambrosino
(Revere Journal)

So where does this leave the case? Well, the ranking officer involved lied about the incident to State Police investigators, which makes me think that something that has not been made public lies beneath the surface of this entire debacle. We still do not know why Talbot and his group argued with Lodie. We still do not know what caused shots to be fired. We also do not know why the officers did not call on-duty (and sober) officers to the scene when they got into an argument with Lodie. It also seems odd that some thug would be able to hit Talbot in the head and escape any bullet wounds from trained officers of the law shooting back. Additionally, the Daily Item's attempt to have the videotape from Revere High public surveillance cameras made public was denied, with the judge in the case saying that because the tape is still being used in a grand jury investigation it cannot be released. I can only assume, then, that the grand jury investigation continues and not all responsible parties have been rounded up (at least to the prosecutor's content), which begs the question: how long will this case be drawn out?

Sergeant Evan Franklin's behavior speaks for itself. It seems ridiculous that he is fighting the fact that his breaking several laws and lying to State Police investigators about an incident in which a fellow police officer was killed warrants his dismissal from the force. He has been getting paid administrative leave since September 29, 2007 (minus the five day unpaid suspension). It looks like he has little to complain about, and I would argue that he has gotten off pretty easy considering what he's done (public drinking, leaving firearms unsecured, lying to investigators, etc.) It will be interesting to see if Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino uses common sense or keeps Franklin on the force. What occurred that night back in September on the property of Revere High School continues to be shrouded in mystery.