Former Hyannis bar manager faces assault charge - again. Police records suggest a pattern.

HYANNIS — It was a stormy night on Dec. 5, 2009, when John C. Shea parked at an angle, left his car running and stumbled up an accessible ramp into Puff the Magic.

"He was clearly, really drunk so I said, 'Why don't you come back tomorrow, and I'll buy you a beer and we'll watch the game," said David Wood, then-owner of the bar and cigar lounge on Main Street at the time. "I shook his hand and he grabbed it really hard and he said, 'Do you know who I am?' And he threw me into the air and across the bar. I landed on a glass table that smashed," Wood said during a telephone interview.

When Wood called the police, Shea began throwing patio space heaters around the bar. Mary Kent, Wood's wife at the time, came out of the restroom to respond to the commotion. Shea picked her up and threw her into a piano. She suffered three broken ribs, said Wood in a recent telephone interview. Bruce Bierhans represented Wood and Kent in the civil case that followed the incident.

"When police arrived, I remember hearing two cops saying 'Do you know who that is?'" said Wood, who now lives in Texas. "I had a feeling we were going to have a problem with the cops. Shea was going to get some leniency."

A judge in the 2009 criminal case against Shea in connection with the incident dismissed the charges. Court records were sealed and are unavailable for public review, including the name of the judge, the charges and what precipitated it being sealed.

According to Times archives, Shea was arraigned on Dec. 6, 2009, on two counts of assault and battery and vandalism and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for Jan. 8, 2010.

"At court, his lawyer said he’s gotten treatment and he just walked right out of the courtroom," said Wood. "It was open and shut. It was alarming."

The treatment was for alcohol addiction, Shea's attorney said at the time, according to Bierhans.

Shea did not want to comment on the record about the incident during a September in-person interview.

Wood and Kent eventually won a civil case — which is available for public review — against Shea in 2014. A jury found him guilty of assault and battery in the 2009 incident at Puff the Magic. Shea was required to pay $50,000 to the couple. The jury verdict appeared to be the first time that Shea was held accountable for his actions, Bierhans said.

Barnstable police and court records reveal Shea has a history of criminal complaints going back to 2001, all of which were ultimately not prosecuted or were dismissed, according to police, court records and Times archives.

Viral video shines spotlight on John Shea

Shea gained public attention after a viral video of him appearing to verbally accost a Black man on Main Street Hyannis last spring in a diatribe that included racial slurs. He now faces charges in connection with the incident.

The current criminal case against Shea is underway in Barnstable Superior Court, after three cellphone videos of him on a sidewalk on Main Street in Hyannis went viral. The incident, which began late on May 31 and extended to early on June 1, leaves Shea facing charges of three counts of threatening to commit a crime, assault to intimidate based on race or color, assault and battery to intimidate based on race or color, a civil rights violation and intimidation of a witness.

Shea is white, and the person who is alleged to have been assaulted, Millyan Phillips of Medford, identifies as Jamaican and Armenian. Phillips' foot was injured in the incident.

Shea pleaded not guilty to the charges during his July 27th arraignment.

His lawyer, Kevin Reddington, has argued in court that Shea's record is clean with no prior convictions.

Previous allegations against John Shea in Barnstable police records

But dating from the early 2000s, there have been allegations of assault, breaking and entering and a civil rights violation that have led to no charges, no prosecution or liquor licensing citations, according to public records obtained by the Times.

The Times requested all records from the Barnstable Police Department that referenced Shea. The records included complaints made against Shea and reports made by Shea, most often on the job as a bar manager.

"In light of my office presenting an investigation to the grand jury, that resulted in seven indictments, which remain pending in Barnstable County Superior Court, I should refrain from commenting about John Shea at this time,” Cape and Islands District Attorney Rob Galibois told the Times on Sept. 19.

Former Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, who held the office from 2003 to 2022, told the Times he doesn't know Shea and won't comment on someone he does not know.

A landlord, a property owner and a bar manager

Shea, 60, is a Hyannis resident, a father, a property owner in Barnstable and a bar manager in Hyannis with 40 years of experience, according to public records and an in-person interview with him on Sept. 8. Shea held the job of manager of Trader Ed's restaurant in Hyannis at the time of the alleged incident involving Phillips. The incident occurred when Shea was off-duty and about a half-mile away from Trader Ed's.

A waterfront cabana bar and restaurant, Trader Ed's is known for its nightlife at the Hyannis Marina, a 180-slip complex. The marina is owned by Wayne Kurker.

Kurker fired Shea a few days after the videos went viral. On Aug. 16, an application was filed by Trader Ed's with the Barnstable Licensing Authority, to change its manager from Shea to Jared Pane, according to an authority meeting agenda. Pane was approved by the authority, said Erin Logan, interim deputy director of asset management and licensing for the town of Barnstable. The state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission approved Pane on Sept. 25.

During the Sept. 8 interview at a Hyannis coffee shop, Shea said he was 100 days sober. He said he is very good at his job and loves the hospitality business and making customers happy. As a bar manager, customers can get intoxicated and get violent, and Shea said he has to intervene, which can involve physical restraint and physical contact.

"It's not like we're serving holy water," Shea said. Customers are constantly under the influence, and babysitting people like that can sometimes take its toll, he said.

What is in the public records? What is missing?

There are eight reports of arrest, and related incident reports, involving Shea, according to the Barnstable Police Department response to a Times public records request. Generally, the eight incidents can be categorized as reports of allegations against Shea of breaking and entering, a civil rights violation or assault. There was an incident report alleging over-serving at Trader Ed's that mentioned Shea in his role as bar manager. Withheld by the police department were five call log entries, 20 reports of arrest, seven offense reports, two field investigation reports and two warrant request reports that concern or involve Shea, according to the Barnstable Police Department response.

Those records were withheld due to public records law exemptions, the response stated. Because the records were withheld, there was no way to identify if police arrested anyone in connection with the incidents set out in the 20 reports. The nature of Shea’s involvement was also withheld, including whether he was a victim or a witness.In the public records provided to the Times were also 47 police log entries, with seven matching audio files. Twenty-five of those documented calls were made by Shea to Barnstable Police, and fourteen of those calls reported disturbances at Trader Ed's.

A police log entry is from a municipal police department's daily log, which is a record of all responses to complaints received, crimes reported, the names and addresses of persons arrested and the charges against such persons arrested.

A police arrest report provides details on an arrest made by police, and a police incident report provides details on police responses to citizen calls for assistance, reports of accidents or reports of crimes being committed.

A 2015 allegation against Shea of breaking and entering

On Sept. 13, 2015, Jeremy Moustakas and his girlfriend Sarah Flaherty told police that Shea broke into a home owned by Moustakas. Flaherty said Shea was drunk and was yelling her name when he entered the residence, according to a police report. When Moustakas asked Shea to leave, Shea is alleged to have walked to Flaherty's car and taken a suitcase from the vehicle. Shea then left in his Mercedes Benz convertible, according to the report.

A few days later Flaherty told police that Shea's friend, named "Beezer" in the police report, called her and said he would return her suitcase. Flaherty was uncomfortable with the arrangement. Police told Shea to bring the suitcase to the Barnstable police station instead. When Shea arrived at the station, he told police that he didn't have the suitcase, according to the police report. Shea also told police that he went to the Moustakas' house to conduct a "well-being" check on Flaherty, who he said was his ex-girlfriend of seven years. That same day, Flaherty told police that Shea came to her job offering her $500 to replace the suitcase and asked her to call the police and drop the charges. Shea was arrested and faced charges of breaking and entering in the nighttime to commit a misdemeanor; breaking and entering a motor vehicle in the nighttime to commit a felony and larceny of property over $250. During a jury trial in September of 2016, Flaherty didn't appear. All charges against Shea were dismissed.

Allegation of civil rights violation

In July 2009, a woman who identified herself to police as a gay woman told police that Shea used homophobic slurs to address her and three other women after they complained at Trader Ed's that the valet took an hour to retrieve their vehicle. Shea is alleged to have told the women to leave and yelled at them, according to the police report. Fearing they would be physically assaulted, the group called police, the report said. With a lack of cooperation from Shea, Barnstable Police Officer Keith M. Sexton requested a hearing for a violation of civil rights, according to the police report. The paperwork didn't specify why charges were never filed against Shea but does note that the incident was forwarded to prosecutors and the state Alcohol Beverage Control Commission.

During the Sept. 8 interview, Shea said the alleged victim misheard what he said.

Allegations of assault against John Shea: 2020-2022

In August 2020, Barnstable Patrol Officer Michael Lima responded to the 19th Hole Tavern in Hyannis, according to a police report. Shea met Lima at the bar's entrance and said he had everything under control. Because Lima knew Shea wasn't an employee at the bar, he asked Shea questions, and Shea became uncooperative, according to the report.

A man approached Lima and said Shea followed him into a bathroom and punched him in the head. The incident was entered into the police report as a simple assault and battery but no charges were filed.

In June 2021, a man told police that Shea pushed him and threw him to the ground at Embargo Restaurant in Hyannis, according to a Barnstable police log entry. At the time, Shea told police the man hit him in retaliation. Embargo bartenders and a bouncer confirmed Shea's version of the story. In a correlating emergency 911 call, reviewed as an audio file by the Times, the alleged victim said he was assaulted by John Shea. The dispatcher seemed to know Shea, and said "Johnny Shea assaulted you?" The man making the call became disturbed that the dispatcher seemed to know Shea and disconnected the call. The man's name was not listed in the record.

On June 24, 2022, Shea is alleged to have assaulted a relative, according the police records. The case was dismissed due to a lack of prosecution. Lack of prosecution means the case was dismissed because of a lack of evidence.

Alleged incidents of town bylaw violations, spitting

As early as 2000, Shea has been associated with a handful of alleged infractions at businesses in downtown Hyannis, according to police reports. In December 2000, former Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald alleged he saw Shea, who was the manager of the former Sophie's nightclub on Main Street in Hyannis at the time, leave the bar at 2:40 a.m., with an off-duty Yarmouth police officer, whose name was redacted from the police report. Sophie's was required to close by 1 a.m., and MacDonald approached Shea and informed him that he was in violation of town rules. The incident was reported as a liquor law violation to the town by Barnstable police. No record of a related citation was available from the town.

On March 28, 2011, Wood testified at a Barnstable Licensing Authority hearing at town hall, asking the board to deny a liquor license renewal to Trader Ed's, according to meeting minutes. For Wood, it was an opportunity to inform the board about the incident involving Shea at Puff the Magic in 2009. Wood told the Times that he warned the board that with Shea running Trader Ed's "accidents were waiting to happen."

At an April 11, 2011 board meeting, board Chairman Martin Hoxie, a retired Barnstable police lieutenant, said that Kurker is the manager of record at Trader Ed's, not Shea, according to the meeting minutes.

"Unless we see something proving that is not the case, this has nothing to do with this Authority," Hoxie said to Wood at the meeting. The board renewed Trader Ed's liquor license at that meeting, according to the minutes.

In August 2015, Shea was reported as spitting in a customer's face at Trader Ed's, in a police log. In July 2016, Shea is alleged to have identified himself, falsely, as a police officer at 7-Eleven in Hyannis and spit on the customer who reported the incident to police, according to a police log. Shea, in the Sept. 8 interview with the Times, declined to comment on the spitting allegations.

In two Barnstable police log entries from October 2021 and July 2022, Shea is accused of indecent exposure and public urination at Embargo Restaurant and Trader Ed's. During the Sept. 8 interview with the Times reporter, Shea declined to comment about the allegations.

The Times reported Shea was charged with assault and battery on May 17, 2001. No information related to the arrest could be provided by Barnstable District Court or Barnstable Superior Court. The case was dismissed, according to the Times.

2023 viral video outside Embargo in Hyannis: What is the town licensing board's response?

The Barnstable Licensing Authority doesn't review arrests or police investigations, generally speaking, John Flores, a board member, said during a phone interview. The board reviews and makes decisions only on complaints from the community that are made to the board in writing, Flores said.

"If someone brought a complaint, I would definitely want to look into that and have it researched and figure out if there was a violation occurring and move forward accordingly," Flores said.

There are no complaints in writing related to the alleged incident of May 31 and June 1 between Shea and Phillips, he said.

Michele Conover, a West Yarmouth resident who lives near Trader Ed's, called the Licensing Authority on June 7 to express her disapproval of Shea, according to Logan, the town licensing administrator. Conover also asked about the status of the liquor license for Trader Ed’s.

"I advised that Trader Ed’s currently has an active seasonal liquor license. I added that the matter was under active investigation by the Barnstable Police Department," Logan said of her call with Conover.

With a new manager on the horizon, Flores said Trader Ed’s has "turned the page and is now moving in a new direction."

The town's licensing officials and the Barnstable Town Council have been lax in their oversight, Wood said, based on his experience. The licensing board members are appointed by the Town Council. Town Council member Eric R. Steinhilber, who is the council's liaison to the licensing board, referred the Times to the licensing board for comment.

What is next for John Shea?

Shea asked that people don't judge him in his recovery from alcohol addiction.

"It's been difficult," he said in the Sept. 8 interview with the Times. Everyone makes mistakes, he said. His intention is to do his best going forward. He said he wants to continue to try to prove himself "to the community, family and friends."

Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at rdevaney@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: John Shea PD records: Years of allegations on Cape. Few consequences.