Roggie’s Owner John Rogaris appeared in court Wednesday, charged with destroying evidence, intimidating a witness and lying to police with regards to the incident that occurred on May 23rd, in which Dylan Fitzgibbon, a 20 year old student from Ireland sustained life threatening head and neck injuries and was found in the Roggie’s parking lot.
According to the police, Fitzgibbon was found unconscious at the bottom of the staircase at Roggie’s. Rogaris ordered his manager and employers to move Fitzgibbon to the back parking lot and to call 911. However, the manager and the employers moved Fitzgibbon but failed to call 911. It was a passerby who noted the severity of Fitzgibbon’s injuries who contacted the authorities. Presently, Fitzgibbon has to wear a safety helmet to protect his injuries and will undergo surgery.
Rogaris pleaded not guilty to the charges of withholding evidence during the course of a criminal investigation, witness intimidation, and two counts of misleading an investigator.
After Fitzgibbon had been taken to the hospital, detectives from the homicide unit went to the bar to Roggie’s to ask about a surveillance video, a police report said.
Rogaris allegedly said the video surveillance system was shorting out, had been removed, and there was nothing to see, said Assistant District Attorney David Bradley. Rogaris had also sent out an email on June 3rd to a detective, noting that the bar’s equipment “shows video, but does not record just as we had informed you.”
However, the police managed to seize a video with a search warrant.
“Video of two people carrying out an unconscious person through the back door at approximately 2:34 a.m. Other surveillance video also shows the defendant at the back of the DVR machines manipulating wires at other dates. The defendant visited a witness in this case and promised him he would support him financially if he took the fall,” prosecuting attorney David Bradley said.
On June 12, Rogaris allegedly visited a witness in the case and promised that he would take care of him financially if he “took the fall for him,” Bradley said.
Roggie’s has faced sanctions in the past for serving minors and not checking identification, records show.
Defense attorney Alan Rose Jr. said Rogaris, who lists addresses in New York and Weston and who was released on his own recognizance, has a “spotless record.”
“The allegations in the indictment are just that. They’re allegations. They’re proof of nothing,” Rose said.
This article was based off of reportings done by the Boston Globe and WHDH News.