70-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder After Drowning Attack on Man With Crutches in Hopkinton

Steven Dana, 70, allegedly slapped and held a 21-year-old underwater at a restricted boat ramp in Hopkinton, MA. The attack was caught on cellphone video.

70-Year-Old Charged With Attempted Murder After Drowning Attack on Man With Crutches in Hopkinton

Massachusetts Man, 70, Held Without Bail After Alleged Drowning Attack on Injured Jet Skier

A 70-year-old Hopkinton, Massachusetts man is facing attempted murder charges after allegedly tackling a 21-year-old on crutches into the water and holding him underwater during a dispute over access to a resident-only boat ramp, Law & Crime reports.

Steven Dana was arrested Wednesday evening after Hopkinton Police Department officers responded to a fight call just before 7 p.m. When they arrived, officers discovered that a bystander had captured the entire incident on cellphone video.

According to police, Dana had confronted 21-year-old Matt Duffy and his friends, who were jet skiing from a boat ramp restricted to town residents. Dana told the group, "It's time to go." He then came down a hill and approached Duffy directly. Duffy had been using crutches at the time, having sustained injuries in a prior motorcycle crash.

The video, recorded by Duffy's friend Benjamin Osmanovic, shows Dana slapping Duffy in the face before tackling him to the ground and "forcefully holding" him underwater, police said.

Duffy described the attack to local CBS affiliate WBZ: "I couldn't use either of my arms or my leg as they were both broken, and I was just praying that he let go or my friends pull him off of me." Duffy's friends were ultimately able to pull Dana away.

Officers reviewed Osmanovic's footage on the scene and placed Dana under arrest. He faces charges of attempt to murder, two counts of strangulation or suffocation, and assault and battery on a disabled person.

As of Thursday, Dana remained in custody at the Hopkinton Police Department and was being held without bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, and his next court date had not yet been made available.

Source: Law & Crime