Man Accused In Revere Beach Hammer Attack Held For Dangerousness Hearing
CHELSEA (CBS) -- The Revere man who police say assaulted a group of teens and young men with a hammer while yelling racial slurs in a dispute over a football Sunday was arraigned Monday in Chelsea District Court.
Gianpaolo Cerretani, 24, is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, civil rights violation, threats to commit a crime, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. He is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.
Cerretani's bail was set Sunday night at $1,040.
Witnesses told police that Cerretani took a football from a child at Revere Beach Sunday around 4:20 p.m., and became enraged after the group of teens and young men took the football from him and gave it back to the child. They said Cerretani then began shouting racial slurs at the group of Hispanic and African-American men, aged 16-20 and from Everett and Boston, while swinging a hammer.
An 18-year-old Lowell man was hit, but his injuries were minor.
The group of teens and young men subdued Cerretani as police arrived to arrest him. State Police said that, after Cerretani was cuffed, he continued to shout racial slurs and obscenities–and that he called one trooper a "pig," telling him, "I'll take you too." They said Cerretani smelled of alcohol, and had bloodshot eyes.
Cerretani was taken to Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett for treatment for several cuts to his head. While there, police say he called an African-American security guard a racial epithet.
As Cerretani's arraignment was wrapping up Monday, a friend of Cerretani's, Scott Peetros, said Cerretani was "jumped" over the football. He told WBZ-TV's Nicole Jacobs that it was his own football that Cerretani, and that "the black kids stole it."
Peetros said Cerretani had the 12-inch hammer with him Sunday because he's a subcontractor. Police found that hammer near Cerretani on the beach Sunday.
"I'd have lost my cool too," Peetros said before court. "I'm sure he got mad at the police when they arrested him for no reason ... Now they're trying to make it sound like a little child got it stolen from him."
After Peetros made an outburst in court, shouting "raw deal" and "he got jumped for a football," he was taken into custody, too.
Cerretani is due back in court Thursday for his dangerousness hearing.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports
