By Gintautas Dumcius
Reporter Correspondent

An ex-Boston Globe employee was arraigned this week for allegedly wreaking havoc in the broadsheet's mail room Monday night, before getting caught outside the newspaper's Morrissey Boulevard offices several hours later.

William "Willie" Leaster, of 35 Fesseden St., in Mattapan, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of assault and battery and one count of threatening to commit a crime. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

Lauren Craig Redmond, Leaster's court-appointed attorney, noted Leaster's mother was in the courtroom. Redmond said the mother indicated he could come with her to her home in Everett, would abide by a curfew, and will not come near the Globe again, since he no longer works there.

Dorchester District Court's Judge Sydney Hanlon set bail at $5,000 and revoked bail on another case from May that was due to go to trial later this month. Hanlon also approved a restraining order that Leaster's girlfriend had asked for, adding a sixth to his record. Leaster's next court date is Oct. 26.

A court doctor, brought in to gauge Leaster's mental state, said Leaster, 27, was competent to stand in court.

Police arrived at the Globe's Morrissey plant at about 10:15 p.m. Monday. Leaster's girlfriend, who worked in the mailroom with Leaster and his sister, said she'd hid in the women's bathroom after Leaster came into the break room to talk with her and assaulted her.

She told police she had refused to speak with him, and he put his right hand around her throat and slammed her against the break room's window, telling her, "If you don't talk to me, it's on when you get off work," according to the police report.

Two mailroom assistants then arrived and escorted Leaster out of the area, the report says. Prosecutors told the court the Globe locked down the building, but Leaster managed to leave the premises.

The girlfriend told officers that earlier in the day, Leaster had punched her and hit her in her left eye six times, stemming from an argument over a cell phone her son found, the report says. The son wanted to give the phone back, while Leaster wanted to keep it, she said.

At about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, officers on paid detail for the Globe observed Leaster and another man return to a parked car in front of the Globe's main entrance. Leaster was placed under arrest there.

Teen tied to shooting

Reports of a shooting Friday afternoon at 19 School St. led police to Dorchester District Court an hour later, where a suspect was found sitting in the lobby. The suspect, Jamaine Burton, 18, of the same address, was arraigned on Monday in the same court.

A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf. His court-appointed attorney, Jeffrey Clifford, noted that no gun or any ammunition was recovered. Clifford also criticized an unidentified witness cited in the police report as seeing Burton load the gun in front of his School Street home.

"We don't even know the name of this so-called person," Clifford told the court. Clifford also noted that Burton had cooperated with police and had been chased into his home by three males.

Clifford also indicated he would be filing a motion to suppress statements Burton made to the police that he possessed a gun and fired it from his porch, striking a victim in his lower right leg.

Bail was set at $25,000, though Burton is being held without bail on a probation matter. His next court date is Nov. 15.

According to the police report, officers found Burton at the courthouse after they received information he was there. Burton agreed to accompany the officers to the District 3 police station, where he signed releases and agreed to waive his right to remain silent.

Burton said he fired the gun and then fled on foot towards Washington Street, handing the gun to a friend before heading to the courthouse, according to the report.

Mattapan man arraigned in alleged Sumner Square scream-and-smash

A Mattapan man was arraigned this week on three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon at his girlfriend's Sumner Square home.

Melvin Hargrove, 29, of 36 Theodore St. in Mattapan, had a plea of not guilty entered on his behalf. The court appointed an attorney from the Committee for Public Counsel Services for him.

The attorney noted that there were inconsistencies in the police report, such as Hargrove being referred to as an "ex-boyfriend," when he is still the current boyfriend, and the victim does not want to pursue a case. Hargrove is the primary caregiver for her two children, since she has two jobs, the attorney said.

Bail was set at $10,000. The next court date is scheduled for Nov. 15.

Police responded to a call about a person flipping out at Sumner Square at 2 a.m. Friday, hearing screaming and smashing coming from the third floor. Entering the apartment, officers saw Hargrove throw the bleeding and marked-up victim across the room, slamming her into the wall, according to the police report.

He was arrested and police spoke with the victim, who said she was sleeping when the suspect kicked the door in and began punching and slapping her, while she had her daughter in her arms, the report says.

As she tried to get away, he kicked her and kicked her daughter in the head, and then grabbed the victim's head and began smashing her head into the floor over and over, the report adds.

Police observed that the victim had welts and red marks on her face, arms, chest, back and neck, along with a bleeding cut on her right arm. Her son stated he saw his father, the suspect, kick his sister, according to the report.

Police took pictures of blood smears on the walls and the damaged door.

Gintautas Dumcius covers court proceedings and law enforcement for the Reporter. He can be reached at gin.dumcius@gmail.com.

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