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THIS MORNING. MIKE BEAUDET IS HERE WITH THE STORY. MIKE: STATE TROOPER ANDREW PATTERSON WILL FACE A CRIMINAL CHARGE AFTER WHAT APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A WILD NIGHT AT A CONCERT IN FOXBORO >> DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED? MIKE: STATE TROOPER ANDREW PATTERSON IS ABLE TO SNEAK OUT A SIDE DOOR OF WRENTHAM DISTRI COURT, AFTER A CLOSED-DOOR HEARING WHERE A CLERK DECIDED HE CAN BE CHARGED HIM WITH LEWD, WANTON AND LASCIVIOUS CONDUCT. THE CRIMINAL CASE IS RELATED TO AN INCIDENT AT THE LUKE BRYAN CONCERT AT GILLETTE STADIUM IN JUNE, WHERE THE TROOPER WAS ALLEGEDLY MASTURBATING IN HI SEAT DURING INTERMISSION. ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT, THE WITNESSES WHO RECORDED THI VIDEO FIRST ENCOUNTERED PATTERSON WHEN THEY FOUND HIM SITTING IN ONE OF THEIR SEAT THEY DESCRIBED PATTERSON AS EXTREMELY INTOXICATED AND SA HE STARTED EATING THEIR POPCORN. THE WITNESSES WROTE ABOUT THE ENCOUNTER ON FACEBOOK DURING THE CONCERT. WE EVEN SAW HIM DOING SOME WEIRD -- SICK -- EVEN PULLED OUT HIS EGGPLANT EMOJI. ANOTHER TROOPER WHO WAS WITH PATTERSON APOLOGIZED AND THE MEN LEFT, BUT THE TROOPERS EVENTUALLY RETURNED, AND THERE WAS AN ALTERCATION AFTER ONE OF THE MEN PRETENDED TO GRIND ON THE FEMALE WITNESS WHILE THE OTHER RECORDED IT. THE MALE WITNESS KNOCKED THE PHONE OUT OF THE HAND OF THE PERSON FILMING, AND ONE OF THE TROOPERS THEN ALLEGEDLY PUNCHED THE MALE WITNESS IN THE NOSE. ACCORDING TO THE WITNESS’ FACEBOOK PAGE, THE NIGHT END WITH A CHAIR UPSIDE TROOPER PATTERSON’S HEAD. THE OTHER TROOPER THEN DISPLAYED A BADGE AND TOLD THE WITNESS HE’S IN BIG TROUBLE NOW. AFTER INVESTIGATING FOXBORO POLICE DECIDED TO PURSUE THE CHARGE AGAINST TROOPER PATTERSO PATTERSON WILL BE ARRAIGNED NEXT MONTH. HE’S BEEN SUSPENDED WITH PAY SINCE JUNE, BUT THAT COULD CHANGE TOMORROW AT A DUTY STATUS HEARING. HIS LAWYER DECLINED TO T

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A Massachusetts State Police trooper will face a judge next month, accused of performing a lewd act on himself during a concert at Gillette Stadium.State Trooper Andrew Patterson was able to sneak out a side door of Wrentham District Court Thursday after a closed-door hearing. In that hearing, a clerk decided Patterson can be charged with lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct for his behavior at a Luke Bryan concert last June.Police wrote in their report about the incident that Patterson "was extremely intoxicated and his speech was thick and slurred" when they tried to talk to him. The witnesses were a couple sitting next to Patterson.Police were called to the floor of Gillette for the report of a fight, where they found a couple who said that Patterson and a friend had been acting inappropriately throughout the night. Patterson had sat in the chair of one of the victims, and when asked to move Patterson "motioned for him to sit on his lap." Patterson also ate some of the victim's popcorn, the report said. At another point, according to the police report, Patterson "removed his penis from his shorts" and began masturbating. Patterson's friend apologized and the group left.One of the witnesses used the eggplant emoji to write about the incident on Facebook, apparently as it was unfolding, and police later reviewed the post as part of their investigation."Sick (expletive) even pulled out his (eggplant emoji,)" the witness wrote.When Patterson and his friends returned, one member of the group "pretended to 'grind'" on the female witness, according to the report, while another one recorded the dancing on his cellphone.The male witness knocked the phone out of the recording trooper's hand, and then one of the troopers punched him in the nose. According to the report, the male witness said he then threw a chair at the two men.The troopers told police that the male witness started the fight by throwing the chair, and that one of them threw the punch in self-defense.The couple told police that Patterson's friend, later identified as state police Trooper Stephen Thomson, "displayed a badge to him" and told him that, "He is in big trouble now." Thomson has not been charged.The couple told police at the time they didn't want to press charges over the fight, but after hearing their story and reviewing the Facebook post and a string of text messages, police indicated in the report that they were going to pursue a lewdness charge against Patterson.Patterson's attorney, Daniel Moynihan, declined to comment on the specifics of the case but said his client is a decorated veteran.5 Investigates has reported on these secretive clerks hearings before. Clerk magistrates decide if there is enough evidence to move a case forward. If the answer is no, the case disappears, raising questions about special treatment when the accused is someone in a powerful position.When asked about the charge, the male witness in the case told 5 Investigates' Mike Beaudet that no one should be above the law.State police said Patterson has been suspended with pay since the incident. The clerk's issuance of the charge now triggers an internal hearing, scheduled for Friday, to assess his duty status."The off-duty conduct as alleged utterly contradicts the manner in which the Department demands its members conduct themselves in their personal lives," state police spokesman Dave Procopio said. Patterson was cleared in 2017 by the Suffolk County District Attorney after he fatally shot a man, who was carrying a knife, in Boston two years earlier.