Crime · Oak Bluffs, MA
Two Mass. State Troopers Suspended After Alleged Rape at Oak Bluffs Barracks
Two Massachusetts State Police troopers, Ryan Costello and Robert Branca, were suspended with pay following an alleged rape in August at the Oak Bluffs barracks complex on Martha's Vineyard. The accused, Edward J. Brown, 27, of Boston, was a guest staying in temporary housing adjacent to the island barracks when the assault allegedly occurred; he pleaded not guilty in Edgartown District Court and was held on $10,000 bail. Gov. Maura Healey backed the suspensions, and Col. Geoffrey Noble ordered overnight guests barred from State Police barracks on both Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The internal affairs investigation continues alongside the criminal case.