Store Owner Seeks Damages

The City of Cambridge may be legally responsible for damages incurred by storekeepers during the April 15 riot.

Edward Akman, attorney for Head, quarters East, a Mass Ave, specialty store, has notified the City Solicitor's office of the store's intent to collect damages under an obscure state law.

The law holds that a city is liable for three-fourths of any damages over $50 caused by "five or more persons riotously and tumultuously assembled."

No Action Yet

William Fitzmaurice, chief investigator in the office of the City Solicitor, acknowledged receipt of the claim, but said that no action has been taken on it as yet.

Fitzmaurice said that the claim is is the only one which has been made against the city in connection with the April disorders.

Altman said yesterday that damage to Headquarters East was substantial, but that the exact amount of loss has not yet been determined.

No Insurance

Insurance companies had cancelled coverage for stores in the vicinity due to persistent window breakage several weeks before the riot. According to Altman, it is "practically impossible" to insure stores in the area.

During the riot, all of the windows in Headquarters East were broken, the door was torn from its hinges, and extensive looting took place. Altman said that the looting stopped only after a group of Harvard students formed a protective ring around the store to drive off the looters.

Several stores in the neighborhood were severely looted by rioters. The Cambridge Radio Center, at 94? Mass Ave, was forced to close after almost all of its stock was stolen.