"Myself ... 'shock and awed' him"

[Joel S. Berson]

An unusually talkative Massachusetts state trooper said yesterday
about a man charged with attempted bank robbery "Just before he gets
to the bank, about two doors down, he put his mask on. Once we saw
that, myself and the Somerville detective went out and jumped him. We
'shock and awed' him. He didn't realize what was going on."

As transcribed by the Boston Globe, today, page B3.  And the trooper
might not even be Irish, I would say -- his name is Michael (OK) Grassia (?).

There are a few other shocking and awing aspects to this
apprehension.  The suspect was nabbed outside the bank, when he put
the mask on.  Too soon to be charged with attempted robbery?  (Or is
putting a mask on in a public place a crime,.as it was in
18th-century Massachusetts on "Pope Day", Nov. 5?)  And the trooper
made a large number of public statements about the suspect (including
flat assertions that he was "a serial robber" and "drug-dependant
person" and that "he usually hits [banks] within 12 to 15 days") and
about the investigation -- so many that I find it hard to believe
that they were, or would be, authorized by his commander, and wonder
whether they could be considered prejudicial to the suspect's trial.

Joel

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