BOSTON, June 10, 2016—A man was held without bail pending a probation hearing following his arraignment on charges of assaulting and robbing an elderly man last week, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL BRUZZESE (D.O.B. 5/25/65), formerly of Hingham and more recently living in Cambridge, was arraigned in East Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault and battery on an elder, unarmed robbery of a person over 60, breaking and entering a vehicle in the daytime, and larceny over $250.  Assistant District Attorney Lynn Feigenbaum requested bail of $100,000.  Judge John MacDonald imposed $25,000 and additionally ordered that he be held without bail on a Norfolk Superior Court probation matter.  According to prosecutors, Bruzzese is currently serving three years of probation for convictions on charges of possession of burglarious tools and two counts of malicious destruction of property over $250.

Feigenbaum told the court that a man later identified as Bruzzese approached the 67-year-old victim at the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in East Boston on June 1 at approximately 1:30 p.m.  Bruzzese allegedly punched the victim, causing bruising the left side of his head, and stole the victim’s car keys from his pocket.  When the victim was able to return to his car, he found that it had been entered and approximately $250 to $300 had been stolen from his wallet inside the vehicle.

After further investigation, State Police detectives placed the defendant’s photo into a photo array, and the victim positively identified Bruzzese as the assailant.

The June 1 assault followed a May 29 incident in which an 83-year-old man suffered a head injury that claimed his life at a Boston hospital three days later. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause and manner of that man’s death, and the circumstances surrounding it remain under investigation by State Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk DA’s office. Anyone with information on that incident is urged to share it with troopers at 617-727-8817.

Bruzzese was represented for bail purposes only by Silvia Guzman.  He returns to court July 1.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.