Bruins’ Milan Lucic charged with assault and battery

Bruins left wing Milan Lucic is scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court early this week facing an assault charge, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Lucic, 35, is charged with assault and battery on a family or household member after an altercation Friday.  His arraignment will take place on either Monday or Tuesday, officials told the Herald.

The Bruins on Saturday announced that the forward will be taking “an indefinite leave of absence” in a statement where the team offered their aid.

Details on what allegedly happened were not available over the weekend.

Boston Police Department officials would not even confirm or deny whether any arrest was made.

The chief records officer for the Boston Police Department, who another officer at the media office told the Herald is the only person who can handle the incident, was not working on the weekend so the earliest the records could be released is Monday.

Lucic had spent eight years on the Bruins before a trade to Los Angeles marked the start of an eight-year departure from the team. He re-signed with the Bruins earlier this year.

B’s captain Brad Marchand also responded to the report of his teammate’s arrest.

“We’re obviously aware of what happened (Friday) night with Looch. The biggest thing for us is we care a lot about their family. We’re a family in here,” said Marchand. “We’re all very, very close. We’re also very concerned for them and what they’re going through. But we have a lot of support for Brittany (Lucic’s wife) and the kids and for Looch himself.”

Coach Jim Montogomery echoed the team’s statement and addressed questions about how the team will be moving on from this incident.

“It’s a really good question, because our culture here is great and we care about each other,” Montgomery said. “So with that, it’s not a normal day.”

“With things like this, we’re all people,” Marchand said. “They obviously have an effect on you. But the biggest thing we can do is come in and do our job. We have to come in and just focus on the game.”

Lucic was the subject of domestic violence allegations in 2011, during his first stint with the Bruins. The forward was questioned by police for a public altercation with his girlfriend outside a Starbucks in the North End around 1:30 in the morning.

A police report at the time described Lucic as “highly intoxicated and hostile,” according to previous Herald reporting. His girlfriend, who was lying on the ground while Lucic hovered over and yelled at her, remained “adamant about not being harmed,” according to the report.

Lucic told a Herald columnist after the incident that “something” was made out of “nothing” and said those are difficult situations to be involved in.

The forward told the columnist that “You definitely need to be careful where you are and of your surroundings” and that he would “put myself in the best situation everywhere I go so I don’t wind up in the same incident that happened.”

More information will be provided as it becomes available. Additional reporting was contributed by Herald reporters Steve Conroy, Flint McColgan and Sports Editor Bruce Castleberry.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/FKG3ues