Thursday, January 11, 2001 Older Editions

Alleged shooter has 'amnesia,' says mom

By Rebecca Piro

The parents of Andover teenager Eric Roszkowski have posted bail for their son - who faces five South Carolina charges, including assault with intent to kill a police officer - and Roszkowski is back in this area, waiting for a court summons. But Roszkowski's mother, Elizabeth Roszkowski, now says that her son is suffering from amnesia, and does not remember anything at all about the incident.

Roszkowski, 17, of Noel Road, was arraigned last Thursday at Effingham District Court in South Carolina for allegedly shooting a flare gun at state Trooper W.M. Clemmons on Interstate 95 last Sunday, Dec. 31.

The alleged shooting occurred during a 15-mile car chase that began when Roszkowski fled from a routine traffic stop and ended when his car crashed off the side of the road, says Lance Corporal J.A. Love, public information officer. Clemmons was not injured in the incident.

Eric Roszkowski received only minor injuries in the crash, says Love, but his mother says that he is suffering from amnesia.

"My son has absolutely no idea who he is or what has happened. Right now he's under the doctors' care," she says.

Roszkowski was treated at McCloud Hospital in Florence, S.C. and kept under guard, Love says. He was given a mental evaluation and cleared. While Love admits that troopers did have trouble gathering information from Roszkowski after the accident, he says that he does not understand how Roszkowski could be pronounced psychologically sound but actually suffer from amnesia.

"He was given a very thorough mental evaluation at McCloud," says Love.

Last Thursday, Roszkowski's parents posted his $10,000 bail at Effingham County Jail and brought their son back to Andover, according to a representative from the Florence County Law Enforcement Complex.

In South Carolina, Roszkowski is charged with assault with intent to kill a police officer, speeding, assault and battery, driving with an invalid license and failure to stop for an emergency vehicle.

Roszkowski also has yet to answer to two charges of armed robbery, brought against him last August when he was arrested for robbing a Hudson Burger King, says Sgt. Jason Lavoie of the Hudson, N.H. police department. He posted bail, and Lavoie said it's possible that he may have some restrictions on his mobility while awaiting trial. His prosecuting attorney, John Harding, did not return phone calls Tuesday.

The South Carolina charges pressed against Eric Roszkowski are completely false, his mother says, claiming that Clemmons, the only trooper actually present during the chase, agrees that the charges are false. "(Clemmons) said that none of those stories are true. He was horrified (by the charges)," she says.

But Trooper Love claims that Clemmons has not changed his story, and that Elizabeth Roszkowski had not attempted to contact either him or Clemmons since the incident last week.

It is still unclear what Roszkowski was doing in South Carolina that night, but an anonymous Andover friend says that he was not trying to make trouble. "Eric is a really good kid. But he's just afraid."

Right now, Roszkowski could be facing at least 20 years in jail if he is convicted of attempted murder of a police officer, says Love.

"Assault with intent to kill is a 20-year sentence alone," he says. "(The charge) he's looking at is very serious."