Two-times proves he doesn't care

The Boston Herald

To: Paul Malm

From: Beverly Beckham

Last March, I defended you in this space. You were 16, then, just a kid, and you did a stupid thing: You didn't pull over when police motioned for you to stop. Instead, you hit the gas pedal and led Braintree police on a wild, high-speed chase that resulted in the deaths of two Braintree police officers, Lt. Gregory Principe and Sgt. Ernest DeCross.

A lot of people were angry and hurt and devastated because these two men died. Most everyone said it was your fault, and that you were solely to blame. I felt sorry for you then. I knew you should have stopped. I knew you were speeding.

But "this boy did not mean to hurt anyone," I wrote. "In his wildest dreams he could not begin to imagine the consequences of his stupid, but clearly non-malicious acts...

"It isn't fair that two men are dead," I continued. "It isn't fair to them or to their families or to their friends. But the boy whose own life has been irreparably damaged, did not shoot these police officers. He didn't point a loaded gun and blow them away. He simply panicked."

I took a lot of heat on that column. Many readers thought I'd gone over the edge. They asked how it was possible that I could defend a kid whose actions were so clearly irresponsible and illegal: you were driving an unregistered car; you were speeding.

He should spend years in jail, one man wrote in a letter. No he shouldn't, I wrote back.

He should be tried as an adult. No he shouldn't. He's just a kid, I said.

Over and over again I maintained that what you did was definitely wrong but definitely unintentional, that if you had known, if you could have looked into the future and seen the pain and destruction your actions would cause, you would have pulled your car over and never have sped away.

How wrong I was.

You got a second chance last week, Paul. Not many people do, but you did. You had the opportunity to prove to yourself and to the world that you're not as bad as many people think you are.

But you blew it. Or maybe you just showed your true colors.

There you were on the road, illegally once again, because you weren't supposed to be driving at all; your license has been revoked. But you were driving anyway, a motorcycle this time, not a car, not influenced by friends who might have egged you on from the back seat, who might have said: hurry up, don't stop, you can get away, hit the gas, Paul. Go!

No, this time it was a one-man show - just you and your conscience riding down the streets of Abington. What happened, Paul? Did you suddenly get amnesia? Did you suddenly forget Sgt. DeCross and Lt. Principe and their wives and their children and their families? What is it with you, anyway? How could you have done what you did, knowing what you know, having been through this before?

This time it was an Abington patrolman, not a Braintree officer, who motioned for you to stop. And once again you did not. Once again you chose to run instead, and went flying down the road, jeopardizing more lives, passing two cars on a curve, allegedly reaching speeds of 80 miles per hour on a super-powered Kawasaki motorcycle, leading police on a two-mile chase which ended only when you crashed into a cruiser.

"He said the reason he ran was because he was the driver of the car involved in Braintree," Abington Patrolman Christopher Cutter said about you. "Obviously, the kid hasn't learned his lesson. He's already cost two officers their lives and we're lucky no one got hurt this time."

Damn lucky.

I don't feel sorry for you anymore, Paul. You should have learned something from what you've been through. Your youth is no longer an excuse. By now you should know better than to run away.

Now you're free again. Last week you were charged with possession of marijuana, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license, operating to endanger, speeding, improper/dangerous passing, failure to stop, failure to use a signal when turning and operating a motorcycle without an inspection sticker - all this on top of a pending trial in the Braintree deaths, yet you walked out of jail on just $500 bail.

That's justice for you. The assumption is you won't drive, of course. But that was the assumption last time. The law doesn't seem to be able stop you from doing whatever it is you feel like doing.

But next time you're driving some motor vehicle, Paul, instead of cruising the streets and jeopardizing even more lives, I suggest you visit the graves of Ernest DeCross and Gregory Principe, bow your head and think for a while about all that is buried there.