2 indicted in assault on Boston College hockey player

A Suffolk County grand jury Tuesday indicted a New Jersey police officer and another man on charges of assaulting a Boston College hockey player in January, leaving the 6-foot-5-inch defenseman with serious injuries, officials said.

The suspects, Daniel Hunt, 27, an officer with the Haddon Heights, N.J., Police Department, and Ian Salerno, 29, of Philadelphia, were indicted on charges of assault and battery and aggravated assault and battery, respectively, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office said.

Both men allegedly attacked the player, identified by BC as Kevin Lohan, during an altercation at a Boston pizza shop during the early morning hours of Jan. 19, according to authorities. Lohan is the cousin of actress Lindsay Lohan.

Hunt and Salerno are scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 1 in Suffolk Superior Court. It wasn’t known whether they had hired lawyers.

Jack Dunn, a spokesman for BC, said Thursday that Lohan suffered a broken jaw in the attack but returned to the team for the playoffs and has used up his NCAA eligibility. He’s still enrolled as a graduate student completing his master’s in sports administration, according to Dunn.

“We are grateful to District Attorney Dan Conley for pursuing these charges and have confidence that justice will be served,” Dunn said in an e-mail.

Conley’s office said in a statement that the parties were at a Boylston Street pizza parlor when Hunt allegedly “pushed the victim, starting a physical altercation. As members of both groups attempted to break up the fight, Salerno allegedly came behind the victim and punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the floor.”

Lohan was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

“As a result of the blow, the victim’s jaw had to be wired shut for three weeks and permanent metal plates were implanted in his jaw and cheek,” the statement said. “Boston Police obtained security camera footage and a receipt from the nearby bar where Hunt, Salerno, and others had been drinking prior to the altercation, photos from social media, witness statements, and other evidence to identify Hunt and Salerno.”

Two days after the attack, BC had said in a statement that Lohan, a Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., native, would be sidelined “indefinitely after being victimized by an unprovoked assault” at the restaurant.

The BC release said that Lohan “skated in 14 games for Boston College this season. Lohan transferred to BC following a four-year stint at the University of Michigan, where he was an assistant captain as a senior. Lohan played in 64 games in Ann Arbor, Mich. and had one year of eligibility remaining after redshirting his junior season.”

Lohan’s player profile on the college’s website said in January that he was pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration at BC’s Woods College of Advancing Studies.

Dunn described Lohan shortly after the assault as a “terrific individual” who was the victim of needless violence.

“He and his girlfriend had stopped to get a pizza on their way back to BC,” Dunn said at the time.

Boston police said soon after the fracas that officers responded around 2:05 a.m. for a report of an assault and battery at Domino’s at 1260 Boylston St. Lohan’s girlfriend told police they had been standing in line at the pizza shop when a group of about six to eight individuals “began pushing in line” and “out of nowhere” one of the suspects punched her boyfriend in the face and knocked him to the ground, according to an incident report.

Police at the time also released surveillance video footage of the scuffle that showed Lohan getting punched in the side of his head and taken to the ground by two or three people.