The owner of the popular Cleveland Circle bar Roggie’s pleaded guilty to interfering with an investigationafter a person was found critically injured outside of the bar.
John Rogaris pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of withholding evidence during a criminal investigation, witness intimidation and two counts of misleading an investigation.
On May 23, 2014, a 20-year-old man from County Cork, Ireland, fell down a flight of stairs inside the bar, and rather than call 911, employees moved the man outside and dumped him in the parking lot Rogaris’ behest. A passerby found the critically injured man and called 911. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital with life-threatening head injuries.
During the course of their investigation, Boston Police sought surveillance video from cameras inside and outside Roggie’s. According to the DA, Rogaris on two occasions lied to officers, insisting that no video existed and hid video DVRs. Boston Police obtained a search warrant and found video footage that showed a body being moved out of the establishment.
After police recovered the video evidence, Rogaris contacted a witness and offered to “take care” of the witness and his family financially if the witness took the blame for the incident.
“This young man could have died but for the actions of passersby, and this defendant’s first impulse was to cover up and protect himself,” Conley said. “It was, in a word, despicable. Investigative steps that could have taken hours were dragged out over days and weeks.” He was sentenced to two years in state prison, two years probation and was ordered to serve 200 hours of community service.
Roggie’s owner admits role in moving critically injured patron to the street
