A 70-year-old Massachusetts man has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to drown a jet-skier who was using a lakeside neighborhood’s private boat ramp.
Police were called around 6:55 p.m. Wednesday, June 3, because of a fight at Lake Maspenock in Hopkinton, between Boston and Worcester. They were told that Steven Dana, a resident of the neighborhood, had argued with a 21-year-old man who he believed was not authorized to use the ramp.
Officers viewed phone video “which showed Dana slapping the male across the face before the parties ended up in a struggle in the water, at which point Dana is shown forcefully holding the 21-year-old under the water,” the police press release said.
Others present, including the young man’s friends, helped pull the older man away from him.
The younger man reportedly was recovering from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident and had been using crutches, which are seen lying on the beach in the video of the fight.
Both men declined to be taken to a hospital for treatment, police said.
Dana was arrested without incident and arraigned Friday on charges of attempt to murder, assault and battery on a disabled person, and two counts of strangulation/suffocation, police said.
Speaking to a reporter from Boston’s WBZ-TV, the younger man said, “I’m really glad that they got him right away. He did say that he lived by the lake and he was very annoyed with jet skis for some reason. A lot of people think they should be banned even though we don’t bother people.”
The only ramp on Lake Maspenock is limited to use by Hopkinton residents from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
Calling the fight “an incident of senseless violence that could have had tragic results,” Hopkinton Deputy Police Chief Scott van Raalten issued a statement asking residents to “contact the proper authorities to investigate incidents that involve the enforcement of the town’s bylaws rather than taking matters into their own hands.”
Leave a Reply