An island resident was arraigned in Nantucket District Court Monday morning after allegedly beating an individual with an aluminum/metal rod and a cell phone cord.
Francisco Veras, 24, of Nantucket, was arraigned on three Nov. 6 charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, two charges of assault and battery on a family/household member, strangulation, and violating an abuse prevention order. He had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf. He is currently being held in the Barnstable House of Corrections and will be in court today for a dangerousness hearing, where the prosecution will request Veras be held without bail for up to 120 days.
According to the statement of facts provided by the court, Nantucket police officer Robert Shield arrived at a residence at 9:15pm for a report of a domestic incident occurring earlier that night. The alleged victim in the case told Shield that they were physically attacked throughout the day by Veras.
Shield said the alleged victim told him that on the morning of November 6, Veras and victim got in a verbal argument. Veras proceeded to push victim to the ground, get on top of victim, and place his forearm on victim’s neck/throat. The alleged victim said they could no longer breathe at one point, their vision began to fade, and victim felt as if he/she was going to die.
Veras went on to hit the victim several more times throughout the day with items such as an aluminum/metal pole and a cell phone cord. Veras also struck the victim several times with a closed fist, knocking the person to the ground on multiple instances.
The victim currently has an active restraining order against Veras where he is ordered not to assault, threaten, abuse, harass, follow, interfere with, or stalk the victim. Shield said Veras has a criminal history of domestic violence. Shield added that he observed several bruises and wounds on the victim that were consistent with victim’s statements.
This story will be updated following the dangerousness hearing at 11am.
