O'TOOLE ADDRESSES WITNESS FEARS

Says police memo tied to assault case Boston Police Commissioner
Kathleen M. O'Toole yesterday said an internal Boston police document
found in the hands of a man arrested after a high-speed chase is
about a sexual assault case, not a homicide.

She also emphasized that no witnesses who are innocent bystanders are
named in the report, saying that she is especially concerned about a
culture of fear and intimidation that is making it more difficult for
police to solve crimes and make arrests.

"I just want to reassure the community," O'Toole said. "I know there
are a lot of concerns out there among people who are willing to come forward."

She said police want to know how the man got the document, why he had
it, and what his link, if any, might be to the sexual assault case.

"Any time we find a Boston police report in the hands of a criminal
suspect of course we're going to do a follow-up investigation to
determine how it got there," O'Toole said at a news conference.

Yesterday the Globe incorrectly reported, based on information from
two police officials told about the investigation who spoke on
condition of anonymity, that the document contained witness names in
a homicide case.

The man who had the document was a passenger in a car that fled
police after a traffic stop in Dorchester and was arrested after the
chase ended in Milton early Tuesday. Police found a spent shell
casing inside the vehicle and bags of crack cocaine nearby, according
to an arrest report obtained by the Globe. The man and four others
were charged with drug possession; the driver was also charged with
resisting arrest, assault on an officer, and failure to stop.

The arrest report says officers seized the car for homicide
investigators because of the fatal shooting of Carl Searcy, 17, in
Roxbury two hours before the chase began. No charges have been filed
in connection with the slaying.

O'Toole said the internal document found in the man's possession is
about a year old and pertains to an ongoing sexual assault
investigation. The report, which the commissioner said she reviewed
yesterday, includes names of possible suspects, who potentially could
be witnesses to the crime as well, she said.