Crime & Safety

Somerville Resident, 4 Others, Indicted for Attacking a Disabled Man at a T Station

The suspects allegedly attacked a man with schizoaffective disorder, and two of the suspects are accused of striking the man with a belt and a traffic cone.

A Suffolk County Grand Jury indicted a Somerville resident and four others on charges of beating a mentally disabled man on an Orange Line platform at Downtown Crossing in August.

Two of the suspects allegedly hit the man repeatedly with a belt and a traffic cone, according to an announcement from Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office

The grand jury made its decision last week, the DA's office announced Monday.

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Karen Marie Akiba, 22, of Somerville, Ivan P. Bacai, 23, of Malden, Maryanne Hamilton, 28, of Jamaica Plain, Germail Johnson, 28, of Dorchester, and Byron H. Lashus, 32, of Watertown all face charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon—a shod foot—and assault and battery on a disabled person causing bodily injury, according to a release from the DA’s office.

Bacai and Johnson each face additional charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for repeatedly striking the victim with, respectively, a belt and a traffic cone, the release said.

Find out what's happening in Somervillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

MBTA Police said a 40-year-old disabled man suffered "obvious injuries, lacerations and swelling to his face and torso areas," after being set upon by men accompanying a woman. The incident started after a woman had gotten into a verbal dispute with the victim, who was punched and kicked repeatedly.

The suspects left the scene, but later Akiba and Lashus were arrested. When the pair appeared in Boston Municipal Court, police spotted Hamilton in the hallway and she was placed under arrest.

Over subsequent days Johnson and Bacai were identified as suspects and arrested, according to the DA’s office. Each was held on $10,000 bail, and Bacai had his bail on a stabbing case in Cambridge revoked.

Akiba was held on $2,000 bail, while Lashus was released on his own recognizance. Hamilton’s bail was set at $4,500 and bail on an unrelated case in Brookline was revoked, according to the release.

The five defendants are due to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Oct. 9.


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