FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Craig West pleaded not guilty at Framingham District Court on Tuesday for an assault that turned deadly.
Police say West and a friend were walking along Concord Street Saturday night around 5 PM, when they got into an altercation with the victim, Oezel Sari.
“When medical personnel arrived, they noticed Mr. Sari was laying on the ground, that he had blood coming from his nose and that he was able to speak, but he was unintelligible,” said the prosecutor in court Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Sari, who was 64, suffered a brain bleed and died from his injuries on Monday just a couple days after this attack.
“Video cameras in the area were able to assist police in locating two males fitting the general description and they were able to track the two males through multiple video cameras,” said the prosecutor.
One of those cameras was at a Dunkin, which captured some of this assault, according to police.
“The video shows this defendant in what the Commonwealth would characterize as excessive self-defense, striking this victim in the head, he then falls to the ground and he does not get up,” said the prosecutor.
But West’s attorney claims this was all in self-defense.
“Mr. Sari is the one who started the altercation, he kicked Mr. West in the groin and actually threatened to stab Mr. West,” said West’s attorney. “Mr. West, as the evidence seems to suggest, punched Mr. Sari one time, minimum amount of force necessary to protect himself from further altercation by Mr. Sari.”
The judge ordered this suspect to be held on a $20,000 cash bail and if he’s released, he’ll need to wear a GPS monitor.
West is charged with assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and assault and battery on a person over 60. He’s due back in court in December.
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