FELIX R. TORRES-SANTIAGO
EMMANUELLI CRUZ-MARTINEZ
JIMMY CRUZ
WESTFIELD – Three young city men appeared in Westfield District Court recently to answer charges stemming from a brutal attack on a defenseless victim and all were allowed to admit to facts sufficient to warrant guilty findings to charges of aggravated assault.
As a result, Emmaneulli Cruz-Martinez, Felix R. Torres-Santiago and Jimmy Cruz managed to avoid the chance of a guilty verdict and instead, their cases were continued without a finding, with probation, for a year.
Typically, such cases are dismissed at the end of the probationary period if there is no violation of probation.
Their victim, who suffered cracked vertebrates, broken and cracked ribs and nerve damage to his lungs requiring hospitalization to ensure he could breath, is still is dealing with effects of the beating which, he said, was inflicted because “I told them to get out of the street.”.
The cases were heard by Judge Michael Mulcahy who ordered that each man pay $90 to the victim/witness fund, pay as much as $200 toward the cost of their legal representation and pay a $65 per month probation service fee during the year they are supervised on probation.
The victim left the city after he was beaten by the three men on Oct. 14, 2011, because “I was really emotionally traumatized” and said recently “I lost everything.”
He said that he left the city due to the event and lost all his possessions. “When I came back, I really had nothing but a suitcase” he said.
According to his account, the incident began when he heard an automotive accident and walked out on to his porch to investigate.
He said that he first called out asking if anybody was injured and, after he was reassured, watched as neighbors and bystanders started to mill around in the street.
He said that he saw that traffic was being affected and said that it looked as if at least one of his neighbors was becoming involved in a confrontation with a motorist so he called out, “forcefully”, to tell the bystanders to “get the hell out of the road.”
Next, he said, a young woman started running at him yelling at him in English and Spanish.
He said that he was still trying to understand what she wanted when he saw a person out of the corner of his eye who struck him with “a big right hook” which sent him to his knees.
“I never threw one punch because all I could do was go into a defensive mode” he said and said that he wrapped his arms around the man’s waist and tucked his head in while the man repeatedly punched him in his ear.
The victim said that two more men ran up. But, they didn’t stop his assailant and instead joined in the attack, kicking and punching him.
The man said that finally he groaned out loud so loudly that his neighbors started pulling people off him.
“It was over as fast as it started” the victim said. “The thing probably lasted ten seconds.”
“I was basically defenseless. If it wasn’t for my neighbors, who knows if I’d be here now. That’s what I think about. How far would they have gone?”
At the time, Det. Lt. David Ragazzini called the incident “really disturbing”.
As the commander of the Detective Bureau, Ragazzini oversaw the investigation and said that the suspects later claimed that the victim had assaulted the woman who had first approached him and some witnesses, those who had a direct association with the suspects, supported their account.
However, Ragazzini said that those accounts were inconsistent and said “the impartial witnesses said it was an unprovoked attack.” He also said there was “no indication that there was any injury to the woman.”
Ragazzini said, “No matter whose version of the events you believe, the assault and battery was over the top.”
The victim said that he was hospitalized twice after the attack and has been traumatized ever since. He said that he stayed with his father in California for about a month and then returned to the city where “It took me a good four or five months before I started accepting life again” but that life is nothing like the one he lost.
He said “I was going to start a new job the following Wednesday but that didn’t happen.”
“I was (making) 45 to 50 thousand dollars a year” he said “but now I’m making 75 dollars a week” on welfare.
The victim said that, since his return, he has been living with friends and is grateful for their support.
“I’ve got some good friends and they’ve really stuck by me” he said.
“I’m just barely keeping my head above water” he said and went on to say “It’s really hard to do (that) when I have nothing.”
“I’m very behind on everything” he said. “I’m behind on a lot of bills, behind on my child support” he said.
But the victim still has a surprisingly positive attitude about the outcome.
He said “The courts did what they had to do” but added “They were telling me one thing and a different thing altogether happened.”
“It was a let-down but I respect their decision” he said but still has trouble accepting that decision. “The court went easy on them” he said.
“I just went through hell for a whole year and these guys are unscathed” he said. “I feel like I got kicked to the curb.”
“I don’t think they’re going to learn anything” he said, “I’m sure they forgot all about it.” Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni said later that he too is unhappy about the outcome.
He said that the outcome is “hard to believe with the amount of violence in this case.”
Mastroianni said that his office “did make a jail recommendation” for the two older suspects but said that Assistant District Attorney Frederick J. Burns did agree with the defense recommendation for a “continued without a finding” outcome against “the least culpable of the group”, Jimmy Cruz, 18, of 11A Union Ave., because “we were unable to actually tie him to the kicking and hitting of the victim.”
In the case of Cruz-Martinez, 19, of 18 Bates St., and Torres-Santiago, 31, of 9B Union Ave., Mastroianni said “We decided to try to get jail time” but the court accepted the defense recommendation for all three defendants.
And Mastroianni was not the only law enforcement professional unhappy with the outcome.
A city officer who worked on the case pointed out “They paid 90 bucks. For a speeding ticket you pay five or six hundred (dollars per year) for six years.”
But the victim said “I’m kinda glad it’s over. I don’t have to go to court and see them.”
“It’s getting better. I don’t feel so scared when I’m walking down the street.”
“They put me in a bad place” he said but “I’m getting better. I’ll be fine.”
