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BOSTON -- A state police lieutenant is on restricted duty, his 12-year-old son is facing charges, and his neighbor is outraged, after the boy was accused of pointing a gun at the man's 5-year-old daughter.
``This could have ended differently, and I could have had a dead child in my neighbor's yard,'' said Brian Bazinet of Sandwich. ``It's something that you just don't see happen around here, and it's shocking.''
The accusation has prompted a state police investigation of Lt. Richard Bolduc, while local police have filed an assault charge against his young son.
Bazinet, father of 5-year-old Lauren, said he was in disbelief after hearing his daughter had been confronted by a gun-wielding boy on June 25. Bazinet saidLauren was not injured in the incident, nor was she aware of the potential danger she faced. He and his wife, Carli, filed a complaint with the Sandwich Police Department. Meanwhile, Bazinet said, Bolduc hasn't spoken to him.
``There hasn't been any communication with the father since this happened,'' he said. ``I saw him, and he just walked right past me and didn't say anything. So I called the Framingham headquarters and they took it from there.''
When reached by the Herald last night, Bolduc declined to comment.
State police spokesman David Procopio said Bolduc has been temporarily reassigned from Troop C in central Massachusetts to restricted duty at the Middleboro barracks.
``With his restricted duty status, which went into effect July 2, Bolduc may not carry a service weapon or use a department-issued vehicle,'' Procopio said.
Procopio declined to comment on the details of the case due to the investigation, but said Bolduc's status as a state police officer hinges on the pending outcome.
Sandwich Police Chief Michael Miller said the boy took the unloaded gun from an unlocked bureau in his house and brought it to a neighbor's home. Miller said when neighborhood kids taunted him that the gun was not real, the brooding boy decided to prove it was and aimed the unloaded gun at the 5-year-old girl and pulled the trigger.
Miller said Bolduc could face a charge of improper storage of a firearm, and his son faces juvenile charges including assault with a dangerous weapon.
