-- 18 protesters were arrested during yesterday's Veterans Day ceremony at City Hall Plaza. They were members of Veterans for Peace, an organization of former soldiers opposed to the Iraq War.

The American Legion had placed the group in the rear of the Veterans Day parade and told them that they could not carry signs protesting the war. The Veterans for Peace responded by blocking the official ceremony podium with gags in their mouths and anti-war posters. They claimed that their rights to free speech had been violated.

Police charged all 18 (15 men and 3 women) with Disturbing a Lawful Assembly of People.

-- A Braintree woman was attacked in her home today during her lunch break. The woman fought back and was able to escape to her bathroom, where she called police. The attacker was described as a tall, muscular white male with unkempt medium length hair. Braintree police have released a composite sketch.

-- Armed robbers in Dorchester should watch out for a guy with a split thumb and a big belt. Early Saturday morning, two men were apprehended by Boston Police on Dawes Street after a car chase. Officers, who were responding to a call for shots fired, caught Vasco Dossantos, 19 and Claudino Correia, 20, both of Dorchester, driving the wrong way down Sumner Street.

The chase ended in classic fashion: the suspects wrapped their truck around a street sign.

The suspects were fleeing a failed robbery. When they asked an unnamed victim to "Give me what you got," he gave them a belting. After warning the pair, who were armed with a handgun and a razor, that they "were messing with the wrong guy," the victim whipped them with his belt. He got a razor slash across his thumb for his trouble. The suspects got an arraignment hearing.

-- Everybody was fighting at Moon Villa Restaurant in Chinatown Sunday morning. Cops broke up a brawl that had spilled onto the streets only to watch a mêlée erupt inside the restaurant. Plates, chairs, and food were thrown. Yves Montissol, 44 of Spring Valley, New York; Daniel Appolon, 20 of Quincy and Shomari Castle, 21 of Boston were charged with Disorderly. No word about whether kung fu was involved, but Universal Hub recounted the incident almost entirely in Chinese food related puns.

All charges alleged until proven under law.