Assault on city councilor among trio of recent restaurant incidents

An assault on a city councilor is among three incidents that required police attention at Waltham restaurants in the last month.

Ward 5 City Councilor and Shopper’s Cafe co-owner Joey LaCava appeared before the License Commission Wednesday night to address an incident that took place at the restaurant.

On the evening of Feb. 28, police were called to Shopper’s Cafe where LaCava was serving as the manager on duty. According to the police report, a man had walked up to the bar and started blowing smoke on other patrons. When LaCava asked the man to leave, the man “sucker punched” him in the face, according to the police report.

With the assistance of another employee, LaCava escorted the man to the door, where the man struck LaCava again in the back of the head.

After leaving, the man ran down Moody Street. Eventually police were able to take him into custody. The man was charged with assault and battery as well as resisting arrest. He  was originally in the restaurant with a group that had ordered five drinks among them. When the group left and then the incident occurred, there were 2.5 drinks left unconsumed at the table.

The commissioners concluded that since the authorities had been called, and the man did not appear to have been overserved, no report would be filed with the License Department.

Additionally, the commission discussed two other recent incidents at Waltham restaurants. 

The first took place on Feb. 28 at Guanachapi’s Restaurant, where a 20-year-old man punched another man in the face, breaking his jaw, because he thought the man had touched his girlfriend. According to the police report, the man who began the altercation was not intoxicated. He was arrested and charged with assault and battery with serious bodily injury.  The License Commission determined not to file an incident report to the License Department.

The second incident took place on March 8 at The Chateau. According to the police report, a man who had consumed alcohol before entering the restaurant and then consumed half of a bottle of red wine while dining began yelling at his children and his mother. The man was taken into protective custody by police, and a family member came to retrieve the children and their grandmother. The License Commission determined not to file an incident report to the License Department.