Police Add Square Patrols

Cambridge police have increased patrols in Harvard Square following a shooting earlier this month, according to Police Superintendent Walter L. Boyle.

The March 12 shooting "involved kids with connection to groups trying to emerge as gangs," Boyle said last night at a special city-wide meeting on crime in Cambridge. Seven suspects have been charged in the incident.

Boyle said the shooting has been linked to at least one person who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest. He also said a .38-caliber Lugar pistol has been recovered.

Cambridge police spokesperson Detective Frank Pasquarello said the incident, while not gang-related, was a result of "bad-blood" between two youths.

The shooting stemmed from an incident between the two groups two weeks ago in Arlington, he said.

Jill Lane, a spokesperson for the Cambridge District Attorney, said an indictment in the shooting might come as early as today.

At last night's meeting, Police Commissioner Perry Anderson, City Manager Robert W. Healy, Third District Court Judge Arthur Sherman, First District Attorney Martin Murphy, Cambridge police superintendents and police officers answered questions concerning recent crimes, including the Harvard Square shooting.

Healy spoke about the "proliferation of weapons" in Cambridge, saying it presented police with one's of the city's "major problems."

One angry Cantabrigian said he was fed up with crime in Harvard Square, adding that he had tried for three years to get an appointment with Healy to discuss the problem.

But other residents said they were more concerned with crimes perpetrated by juveniles. City Councillor Sheila Russell said she wanted to ensure that enough community-based programs were available for city youth.

Martin said the District Attorney's office continued to work on "a community-based prosecution system." The stabbing of a Boston University Law School student in the Harvard Square "pit" and the stabbing of an MIT student on Memorial Drive this year had caused the District Attorney's office "to step up its effort," he said.

Superintendent Boyle added that while recent events in the Square might indicate otherwise, Cambridge did see a crime drop of eight percent in 1992.

Street robberies in the Square area, however, had increased 11 percent, he said.

In a related incident, Pasquarello said Cambridge police were looking into the two reported assaults at the Baybank 24-hours automated teller machines on Sunday.

Martin said "all parties have been arrested" in connection with the shooting in Harvard Square, for which four suspects have already been arraigned in Cambridge third district court.

Rosalyn Rosado was arraigned on a charge of assault with intent to murder and released on $2,000 bail, according to a spokesperson for the Cambridge District Attorney's office.

Jonathan Splaine was also arraigned on a charge of malicious destruction and released on his own recognizance, the spokesperson said.

Two others arraigned were minors.