Police say 'road rage' driver struck officer with car
By Elizabeth Boch, Globe Correspondent, 6/25/2003
The sound of a woman screaming yesterday morning made Mark Mezzandri drop tools onto the roof where he was working in Weymouth. But then he realized that the woman, apparently furious about an accident on Route 18 that blocked her way, was shouting expletives at a police officer.
Officer Steven Shalno later reported that the woman told him: ''I don't care who [expletive] died. I'm more important.'' It didn't end there. The driver, later identified by police as 25-year-old software engineer Anna Gitlin, was pulled over by police at a gas station at the intersection of Route 18 and Middle Street. Mezzandri said she rolled down her window, but instead of complying with Shalno's request for her license and registration, she shifted the car into gear and started to drive. And when Shalno tried to grab the car, Gitlin closed the window on his hand, according to Weymouth police.
Mezzandri said he watched as the woman then put down the window to release the officer, made a U-turn onto the street, then edged her Toyota Corolla forward while the officer was standing in front of it.
She waited through a red light, and the incident seemed to be over. But when the light changed, the car struck Shalno, throwing him onto the hood of the Corolla, police said. Shalno was taken to the hospital with leg injuries. Gitlin, of Weymouth, was charged with attempted murder of a police officer.
''This takes the cake,'' said Mezzandri, of North Attleborough, who had watched from the roof of a convenience store. ''It was total mayhem.''
Not only did Gitlin strike the officer, she then tried to flee the accident scene, police allege.
It wasn't until a tractor-trailer blocked the road that Gitlin stopped, police said.
An off-duty Boston police officer reached in her car and grabbed her keys, said Weymouth Police Lieutenant James Mullin. After that, the backup on Route 18 created by a minor accident that spilled diesel fuel grew even longer.It's not unusual for construction and accident delays to fuel rising tempers, Mullin said, but yesterday's incident was extreme. ''We see road rage, but generally, it's not against a uniformed police officer in the middle of an accident scene,'' Mullin said. ''It seems to be getting more bizarre. It's getting worse. No one would get in her way.''
Mezzandri said that after Gitlin's car was surrounded by squad cars, he climbed down to get his camera from his truck and took pictures of police officers escorting her to a squad car.
''Maybe she didn't have her coffee,'' he said. ''Everybody just stopped and watched this.''
Shalno was taken to South Shore Hospital and released after he was treated for bruises and cuts and a possible left knee injury.
Gitlin pleaded not guilty in Quincy District Court yesterday afternoon to charges of attempted murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, negligent driving, and disorderly conduct. She posted $5,000 cash bail and was released. David Traub, spokesman for the Norfolk district attorney's office, said: ''I have no recollection of a cop being attacked because of the simple frustration of driving.''
Defense attorney Elliot Levine of Quincy said the software engineer, who works in Canton, is a ''lovely girl'' who emigrated from Russia at age 10 and has no prior driving offenses or criminal record. He called the attempted murder charge ludicrous, saying Gitlin never intended to kill Shalno. ''If somebody is in front of a car and you want to kill them, you don't inch the car forward,'' Levine said.
''She's not a killer, and she's not a violent person. She's anything but that.''
The accident scene was cleared by noon.
Mezzandri was still shaking his head last night about the encounter. ''I couldn't even imagine the kind of brass it takes to pull something like that,'' he said.
Elizabeth Boch can be reached at boch@globe.com.
This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 6/25/2003.
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