Former correctional officer James Proulx, of Smithfield, is arraigned in District Court yesterday, charged with assaulting an off-duty state trooper. He is being held on $1 million bail at the ACI.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy Bill Murphy

PROVIDENCE — He can hear his friends and his family tell him they love him, but he can’t open his eyes. He can’t speak to them, though he seems to try, despite the intubation tube in his throat.

Yesterday, state Trooper Brendan R. Doyle gave his family the “thumbs up” when asked to hold up two fingers, his father said. And he squeezed his mother’s hand.

The 25-year-old marathon runner is now in the race of his life. With severe head injuries, his prognosis is uncertain. He has been in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital since early Saturday morning, when the police said he was sucker-punched by a reckless driver he was trying to stop from hurting other people.

The man accused of punching Doyle to the pavement and leaving him to die in downtown Providence was being arraigned in District Court. James Proulx had allegedly called an ex-girlfriend as he sped away, leaving her an obscenity-laced message in which he bragged about giving “the beating of their [expletive] life.”

As Chief Judge Albert DeRobbio was setting bail at $1 million surety and sending Proulx back to jail, the trooper’s family and friends were at his bedside, watching for the slightest signs of improvement.

Early Saturday morning, it looked as if the young state police trooper could die. The punch had crushed his face, and he’d hit the back of his head on the street so hard that it caused bleeding into his brain.

“When I got here, they asked me if he was an organ donor,” his father, Robert Doyle, said, his voice breaking and tears forming. “All these questions you don’t expect to be asked the day before Father’s Day.”

His mother, Maureen Adams, attached the medal of St. Michael, the patron saint of police officers, to the bandages around her son’s head. It was the same white gold medal that he’d shown her on Friday as an emblem to keep him safe. Later that day, a doctor examined him and found his pupils had returned to normal, Robert Doyle said.

Since then, the young man has made slight progress, his father said. The doctors tell the family that the trooper’s youth and strength are on his side. Robert Doyle, who has spent many years as a marathon runner and coach, believes that his son’s training is helping his body cope with the trauma.

Brendan Doyle had grown up wanting to be a state trooper like his uncles, Lt. Eric LaRiviere and retired Lt. Robert Magnan, and when he graduated from the state police academy in January 2005, he inherited Magnan’s old badge: No. 47.

State Police Col. Brendan Doherty has called the young trooper “a perfect gentleman.” Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman, whose officers worked with Doyle in patrols, called him a “hard-charger.”

Since the moment he was hurt, officers from across the state have kept a continuous vigil, as have his former classmates, fellow runners, and friends. The Providence firefighters who carried him off the downtown streets have checked on him several times.

Robert Doyle thinks about them as he sits outside at the hospital’s Sept. 11 memorial, where he’s found some solace. The firefighters and the hospital trauma team saved his son’s life, he said. “These are the people that go unrecognized,” he said. “And I’m just thanking them. I’m thanking everyone.”

On Saturday, Robert Doyle made another wish: one more day with his son.

“I came in Father’s Day, and he was still living,” Robert Doyle said. “It was the best Father’s Day, because I had my son another day.”

Yesterday morning, Proulx, 36, was led into District Court in handcuffs. The Smithfield man wore a sullen expression as he stood before Chief Judge DeRobbio. Doherty and state police commanders and troopers stood at the back of the courtroom, their hands folded, watching him.

As Special Assistant Attorney General James Baum read the complaint against him for felony assault and reckless driving, Proulx clenched his jaw.

Just after 2 a.m. on Saturday, Trooper Doyle was off-duty and out with two friends when he saw a black BMW convertible speeding onto Pine Street, twice running over the curb, as it cut through the street clogged with people and traffic. Doyle ran after the car, yelling that he was a trooper, holding his badge, and ordered Proulx to stop, Baum said.

He caught up to the car in a parking lot, but Proulx drove around him. Then, Proulx got stuck in traffic at Dorrance Street. As Doyle got to the car, someone got in between him and Proulx, Baum said. As Doyle pulled out his cell phone, Proulx got out and punched him in the face.

Doyle fell backward and hit the back of his head on the pavement. Proulx sped off, Baum said, and called his ex-girlfriend, Erica Geisser of North Providence, who had a protective order against him. Proulx left her a phone message that accused her of sending people after him.

Baum read the transcript of the phone message to the court:

“Like you better [expletive] call them back because they’re probably all sucking their lunch out of a straw right now, because I give ’em the beating of their [expletive] life, okay.”

Baum read on. “Trust me when I tell you, they ain’t coming after me again, ’cause they’re [expletive] hurting right now,” the prosecutor said, quoting Proulx’s message. “… But that was really funny. They made the biggest mistake of their [expletive] life.”

DeRobbio first talked about setting bail at $500,000 with surety. Defense lawyer Michael DeMarco argued that it was excessive. Proulx understood the seriousness of the crime, DeMarco said.

“Seriousness?” the judge retorted. “This could be a murder for the type of beating that was given this individual.”

When the defense lawyer pressed again, the chief judge cut him off. Proulx bragged about giving “the beating of a lifetime” to a police officer, DeRobbio said. “That a person is trying to perform a duty, and the health, safety and welfare of society [must] be protected, and when you attack that system, you attack the very basis of society,” he said.

He took into account Proulx’s prior criminal record. “Remember, high bail is not excessive bail,” DeRobbio said, and then he set bail at $1 million with surety.

“It’s excessive,” DeMarco muttered later, as he moved through the crowd of reporters outside the courthouse.

Proulx was returned to the Adult Correctional Institutions, where he’d been a correctional officer starting in 1990. The president of the Brotherhood of Correctional Officers told The Journal that Proulx resigned “voluntarily” five or six years ago. But Corrections Director A.T. Wall strongly rebuffed a statement made by union president Richard Ferruccio that Proulx had a clean record with no history of violence.

“That information is inaccurate,” Wall said yesterday. He said he would like to elaborate on Proulx’s disciplinary record, but that state law prevented him from doing so.

Lately Proulx was involved in the mortgage business, incorporating North Country Investments, which real estate transactions show bought and sold property in Providence. Other court documents show Proulx was making about $385,000 a year.

In divorce papers filed two years ago, Proulx’s wife cited his drinking and gambling problems as part of the reasons she was seeking a divorce. She accused him of drinking excessively and using their credit cards to support his gambling habit. He left her and their two daughters without notice and without money, she said in court records.

The divorce was finalized in April, the same month Proulx was arrested for making obscene phone calls to a North Providence man and vandalizing Geisser’s house. The vandalism charge was dismissed, although Geisser obtained a protective order. Proulx pleaded no contest to the phone calls charge, which was filed for a year provided he sought anger-management counseling.

On that charge, he’s being held without bail until a violation hearing on July 2.

After the arraignment, Doherty and the other state police leaders stopped by the hospital to tell the family what happened in court. Doherty said he was pleased with the court’s decision.

But the trooper’s father said he wasn’t focused on the suspect. “I have no thoughts about the guy. I just think about being the best dad I can be for Brendan,” Robert Doyle said. “My goal now is I work with my son now, getting him well, seeing him through this.”

The six-time Ocean State marathon champion has the most important coaching job of his life now — helping his son recover.

“That’s my job now,” Doyle said. “I’m Dad.”

With reports from staff writer Tom Mooney.

amilkovi@projo.com