N.J. cop, pal to face charge of assaulting BC hockey player

An off-duty New Jersey police officer and his pal are being arraigned on assault charges for an early-morning brawl at a pizza place in the Fenway.

Prosecutors said the assault occurred on the morning of Jan. 19 at Domino’s Pizza, where Daniel Hunt, 27, of Barrington, N.J. ,and Ian Salerno, 29, of Philadelphia had a physical altercation with a 24-year-old living in Chestnut Hill at the time.

The Herald reported the victim to be Boston College Eagles hockey defenseman Kevin Lohan back in January.

Hunt, an off-duty officer of the Haddon Heights Police Department, allegedly confronted and then pushed the 24-year-old, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. Salerno then came behind the man and allegedly punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the floor, Conley said.

Prosecutors said both men were visiting Boston for a gathering that lasted into the early morning hours and saw the 24-yearold man with a group when they entered the pizza shop with their friends.

Lohan was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he had permanent metal plates put in his cheek and jaw, which had to be wired shut for three weeks as a result of the blow.

Security camera footage, a receipt from a nearby bar, social media posts and witness statements tie Hunt and Salerno to the scene, Conley said.

Lohan’s girlfriend told police six to eight people began pushing their way through the line on the night of the alleged attack “and out of nowhere one of the suspects punched her boyfriend in the face and knocked him to the ground” and ran off, according to police reports.

BC said the incident left Lohan, a 6-foot, 5-inch graduate student from Cold Springs Harbor, N.Y., sidelined from play indefinitely at the time.

Hunt will be arraigned for assault and battery on August 1 in Suffolk Superior Court, Conley said. Salerno will be arraigned for aggravated assault and battery.