The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 42

42 THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE NOVEMBER 28, 1993 Weymouth boy, 9, burned by transformer .1101 COBRECTIOiM On page 19 of our Holiday Sale circular for Nov. 28-Dec. 4 the Ladies Colored Denim Jeans sale priced at 13.99 will not be available. On page 21, the Mens Thermal Underwear will not be available in size 3x. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

By Kevin B. O'Leary CONTRIBUTING REPORTER WEYMOUTH A 9-year-old boy was seriously burned yesterday and his playmate slightly injured when an electrical transformer exploded after one of them climbed on top of it Police declined to identify the two boys, who live in East Weymouth. One of the youngsters, who Cm mm mm. 4 JL I.I-N "residents because of the loss of power. Cope said the transformer has been the source of a number of power outages in the past, because of its location on a quiet side street near railroad tracks.

"Years ago, kids would drink down there," Cope said. "On their way home, they would throw rocks at the transformer to watch the sparks fly." Cope also said a squirrel wandering about on the live wires caused a power outage last year. "We have to get the message across to the kids," Cope said. "Don't mess with electricity. It will kill you." The boys' names were not released, police said, because they may be charged with tresspassing and property damage.

That decision will be made when the investigation is completed, according to Whipple. "One thing's for sure," Whipple said. "That kid's guardian angel was working overtime today. He's lucky he's not dead." about the pain he was in, but he seemed to be in good condition." Whipple said the other boy told him that he and his friend were playing out an "adventure" when they climbed over a chain-link fence topped by barbed wire, bordering the transformer. A section of the barbed wire was missing, allowing the boys easier access to the area, marked with "No trespassing" and "Danger, high voltage" signs.

The most seriously injured boy had climbed on top of the transformer and was thrown 10 feet when it exploded, showering the boys with electrical sparks. "Kids will play," Whipple said. "No matter what the signs say, they were just being kids." The accident caused power to be knocked out in North Weymouth, which is served by the transformer along with parts of Hingham. Power was out for well over an hour, according to Weymouth Police Lt. William V.

Cope. Cope said the station fielded more than 500 calls from was burned from his waist to his toes, was listed in fair condition yesterday at South Shore Hospital. The second boy, who is also 9, suffered an electrical shock and singed hair in the explosion on Wharf Street. He was treated at the scene and released. Weymouth Police Officer Charles Whipple was in the police station when he heard the explosion from the transformer, located nearly a quarter-mile away.

"The power went out for a split second," Whipple said. "Then the emergency generator kicked in. We thought someone had hit a pole somewhere." Whipple said police then received a call of a child screaming near where the Massachusetts Electric Co. transformer is located. When he arrived at the scene, Whipple said there was an unidentified man cradling one of the boys, who appeared to be badly burned.

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Police: Fugitives may be linked to man found dead A man found dead in East Cambridge last Sunday, apparently from a drug overdose, may have ties to the two escapees from the state prison in Bridgewater who were apprehended nearby Wednesday night, law enforcement officials said. Cambridge police have received an anonymous tip that Richard Al-ford, 30, was acquainted with Robert Dellelo and Joseph Correia, who escaped from prison Oct 31 and were tracked by authorities to an East Cambridge apartment Alford's death is not suspicious, but law enforcement authorities are interested in unconfirmed reports that he was acquainted with the two escapees and might have been with them before he died, said Frank Pas-quarello, a police spokesman. Capt. Kurt Wood of the state Department of Correction said it is not clear how Alford would have met the prisoners because Dellelo, 58, has been imprisoned since 1963 and Correia, 38, since 1976. Alford did not serve time in a state prison with the escapees, Wood said.

However, he said Alford's name did come up in the fugitive investigation of Dellelo and Correia. The pair were tracked to a home across the street from the Middlesex Superior Courthouse. Alford's body was found in a Cambridge Street doorway about two blocks from where the escapees had hidden. JUDY RAKOWSKY fori nf T'T Cab jouse 1 FRAMINGHAM 237-2900 Route 9 WEYMOUTH 331-6000 Corner of Rtes. 3 18 BURLINGTON 273 2600 Mall Road FALL RIVER (508) 678-5606 Exit 7 off Rte.

195 HAVERHILL (508) 374-5705 Vfolnut St PORTSMOUTH (603) 436-9091 SO. PORTLAND (207) 761-1999 HOURS: Sat 10-5; Sun. 12-5; Haverhill Closed Sun. 9 Spring LaneCccmer ofVAshmgtoo Sdiod St) 4264M0 if. i GLOBE STAFF PHOTO JANET KNOTT ATTENTION TO DETAIL Bill Warren of Jamaica Plain takes advantage of yesterday's milder temperatures to adjust the idle on his 1939 Ford Deluxe Coupe in preparation for winter storage.

He belongs to the Stick Shifts club, started in 1952. After 17 years, tip leads police to Franwigliam escapee in Colo. By Judy Rakowsky GLOBE STAFF We confronted her at the door and showed her the photographs. She said, "No, no that's not me." She even told me she was going to sue me if I placed her under arrest, MARK MEIKLEJOHN Commerce City, officer Parents and Teachers Now is always the best time to help your children become readers. Here's one way.

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Shipping and handling are extra. Minimum order: 50 copies. Whether you're a teacher or librarian, or parent or grandparent, Creating Young Readers offers practical ideas and useful advice to help you help children capture the joy and importance of reading. Isn't it one of the most important things you can do for your children? Creating Young Readers a service of printed, and the match, Mieklejohn said, "was identical." After finally persuading her that they had all the evidence needed to keep her in jail, she told another officer: "You finally got me." She was allowed to call her mother in Florida. Meiklejohn said the fugitive had a Colorado birth certificate and identification and said she had spent the entire 17 years on the lam in the state.

In fact investigators don't yet know if her real name is Osborne and she was born in Colorado or it is Smith and she was born in Detroit But, whoever she is, Osborne has spent her life running afoul of the law. After the July 25, 1970 fatal stabbing of the customer in a Roxbury apartment, Osborne allegedly bragged she had killed the man before fleeing town. A month later, she was arrested in Port Huron, and sent to Framingham in 1971 after her conviction for manslaughter. Twice, she escaped from the co-ed medium security prison and was captured in New York on one occasion and in Philadelphia the second time. Wood, the fugitive squad leader here, gave all the credit for Osborne's apprehension to Colorado authorities, but said by doing all the identification leg work, the fugitive unit has improved the chances of more arrests.

If she does not resist rendition, Wood said, Osborne could be back in Boston within 10 days to face an escape charge and to serve out six more years for manslaughter. A prostitute who escaped from Framingham state prison in 1976 while serving time for killing a customer evaded capture for 17 years until a Colorado police detective targeted her last week for selling stolen vacuum cleaners. While checking a national police computer, the Commerce City, detective learned that Valerie Osborne's crimes were far more serious than fencing stolen property and promptly arrested her Wednesday night Osborne, also known as Lena Re-gina Smith, had served five years of an 8- to 15-year term for manslaughter in August 1976 when she and another prisoner swung a blanket over a fence at MCI-Framingham in 1976 and scaled a wall to freedom. In the intervening 17 years, Smith, now 45, had also climbed to the list of top-10 fugitives pursued by the state Department of Correction Fugitive Apprehension Unit. But the squad's hopes of apprehending her had dimmed after so many years, said Capt Kurt Wood.

"This just shows there's no such thing as a cold case," Wood said. Three years after her case was on "Unsolved Mysteries," Commerce City Officer Mark Meiklejohn met Osborne. "I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't place it" Meiklejohn said yesterday by telephone. A week later, he got a tip that she was fencing vacuum cleaners. Meiklejohn said he discovered Osborne's name in a national computer holding warrants, as a possible alias for fugitive Lena Smith.

It was listed among 15 possible identities she might be using, along with her arrest record of prostitution and assault arrests in several states. After receiving a package of information from investigators in Massachusetts, Meiklejohn said he recognized Osborne from the picture and staked her house out Wednesday night At 9 p.m., she drove into her driveway in Commerce City and found police waiting. "We confronted her at the door and showed her the photographs," said Meiklejohn. "She said, 'No, no that's not She even told me she was going to sue me if I placed her under arrest" he said. Then she was booked and finger QEhc Boston (Slobc.