Two men from Rhode Island have been charged in a fight that left a New England Patriots fan dead this September at Gillette Stadium, according to court documents.
Justin Mitchell and John Vieira, both of Warwick, were charged this month with assault and battery and disorderly conduct over the alleged beating of Dale Mooney, a 53-year-old from Newmarket, New Hampshire, who died after the game against the Miami Dolphins game on Sept. 17.
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Witnesses have described a fight breaking out before Mooney's death.
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Foxborough police had sought charges of assault and battery and disorderly conduct against three men, and criminal complaints against Mitchell and Vieira were issued Dec. 7, according to the court documents, first reported by The Sun Chronicle newspaper. They were due to face the charges at separate appearances in Wrentham District Court in January; it wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys who could speak to the charges.
When police sought the charges in the fight this October, the names of the people they suspected weren't released. The request was reviewed by a member of the Wrentham District Court Clerk Magistrate Office; it wasn't immediately clear what became of the allegations against the third man.
Mooney was pronounced dead at a hospital after he had "an apparent medical event" in the 308/309 section of the stadium shortly before 11 p.m. at the Miami Dolphins game on Sept. 17, Massachusetts State Police have said.
Mooney's death was a homicide, the medical examiner's office recently ruled, and the cause was "Probable cardiac dysrhythmia in a person with severe hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease during a physical altercation," according to the Norfolk District Attorney's Office. Preliminary autopsy results had previously not suggest that he suffered a traumatic injury and did identify that Mooney had a medical issue.
Investigators decided the evidence didn't support homicide charges, prosecutors said.
"We thank the members of the public who made their private videos of the altercation available for our review, and the investigators at the Foxborough Police Department, for their help in establishing a clear picture of these tragic events,” Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement.
Officials from the Patriots and Gillette Stadium have said they were "heartbroken to learn of the tragic passing of Dale Mooney," who had a season ticket for 30 years, and noted they were working with authorities during the investigation.
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Cellphone video shared by one person at the game showed security rushing down to break up the fight, and paramedics attending to the injured man. The person said they saw one punch, "really hard on the side of the head," that knocked Mooney down.
"They were doing compressions by my estimation for easily 10 minutes," the witness has told NBC10 Boston. "It was pretty heartbreaking and the game was still going on so the general public clearly knew what was going on in our section so the game was going on, people are cheering for the Patriots comeback, and this poor guy has passed away before our eyes. It was pretty brutal to watch."
Mooney's wife told NBC10 Boston that he was a loving husband and father to their two boys, as well as a longtime Patriots fan who had been going to Gillette to support the team for multiple years without incident.
