Ex-MA Teacher Denies Entering Capitol On Jan. 6: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Friday, Nov. 5. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• A man arrested after a fight outside a popular restaurant collapsed while in Falmouth police custody and later died at the hospital Friday morning.
• A man caught sleeping on the couch in someone else's home early Friday morning was arrested and is now facing multiple charges, including breaking-and-entering.
• Aaron Feuerstein, who owned a textile mill in Massachusetts and famously continued to pay his workers even after a devastating fire, has died. He was 95.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

Matt Lynch, who resigned as a teacher at Braintree High School in February and then went on to win a seat on the school committee Tuesday night, said he did not breach the security perimeter at the Capitol building when he attended the Jan. 6 rally in support of President Donald Trump.

Lynch went on WBZ NewsRadio's NightSide With Dan Rea on Thursday night to address the controversy. Last month, Lynch told Patch he had been questioned by FBI agents twice. A photo of Lynch at the Capitol surfaced on community Facebook groups, prompting some Braintree residents to report him to the FBI and file complaints with the school district. Lynch told Rea residents who reported him to the FBI targeted him for his political beliefs.

"I wasn't fired, I wasn't forced to resign," Lynch told Rea. "The administration was good with me. These are the type of people who really don't stop until they finish their target."

Read the full story.

Like this article? Sign up for our newsletter and get it delivered every weekday. It's free!

Friday's Other Top Stories

Man dies after collapsing in police custody: A man arrested after a fight outside a popular restaurant collapsed while in Falmouth police custody and later died at the hospital Friday morning, according to police. Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said officers on patrol saw a fight break out at 12:15 a.m. in front of Anejo Mexican Restaurant. Officials said an officer stopped his vehicle and attempted to break up the fight between two men. Two people were arrested: Bruce Enos, 30, and Jarrod Scott-Reynolds, 32. But once at the station, Enos collapsed, according to authorities.

Couple finds stranger sleeping on couch: A man caught sleeping on the couch in someone else's home early Friday morning was arrested and is now facing multiple charges, including breaking-and-entering. According to Worcester police, two people living in a Hartshorn Road home woke up just before 6 a.m. and found the stranger sleeping on their couch. They began yelling at him, and he ran out of the home, police said.

New home, mural for rare peregrine falcons: A new mural depicting the peregrines in downtown Worcester aims to raise awareness about the animals — the fastest on Earth, and relatively rare in Massachusetts. Medford artist Sophy Tuttle recently completed the mural on the side of the building at 2 Mercantile St. depicting a peregrine falcon in a natural habitat. Nearby at 120 Front St., MassWildlife and the Mercantile Center installed a nesting box for the pair of peregrine falcons who live (and hunt) in downtown Worcester.

Massachusetts: Tell Someone You're Grateful For Them This Holiday Season

Picture This: Do you know this man?

Norwood police are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect wanted for a purse theft from a motor vehicle yesterday. According to police, the suspect, a white male, was seen in the parking lot of Seven Hens in Norwood at 884 Washington St. reaching into the victim's car and taking her purse. The purse contained hearing aids that are valued at $7,000, and recovering them is a high priority.

They Said It

"I'm not throwing 3,000 people out of work two weeks before Christmas."

• Aaron Feuerstein, who owned a textile mill in Massachusetts and famously continued to pay his workers even after a devastating fire, in comments to the Boston Globe in 1995. Feuerstein, 95, died Thursday night from complications from a fall at his home in Brookline on Oct. 27

In Case You Missed It

MA has given 500,000 booster doses of COVID vaccine: Most coronavirus metrics continued to decline and the state reached 500 thousand booster vaccine doses administered, according to the latest data released by the Department of Public Health. The majority of communities reported falling positive test rates, according to town-by-town data released Thursday. Twenty-three Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, down five from the last report.

Remains identified: The human remains found during a search of the Concord River Wednesday have been positively identified as those of missing Chelmsford teen Judy Chartier, according to the Middlesex DA's office. The identification was made through dental records, said investigators. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Forensic Anthropologist Dr. James T. Pokines will now work to reconstruct the remains in an attempt to determine a cause of death.