Employee Charged in Stabbing Outside Chelsea Club

 BOSTON, May 22, 2012—An employee of a Chelsea strip club has been charged in the stabbing of a patron earlier this month, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

JODY LASSITER (D.O.B. 1/24/63) of Everett was arraigned yesterday in Chelsea District Court on a single count of armed assault with intent to murder. Assistant District Attorney Christopher Henry recommended that he be held on $150,000 cash bail. Judge D. Dunbar Livingston imposed $50,000.

Lassiter, a floor man at King Arthur’s Lounge, is accused of stabbing a 33-year-old Somerville man about 10 times just outside the Beacham Street establishment shortly after midnight on May 15.

Chelsea Police responded to the scene minutes after the incident and learned that the victim had been ejected from the club because he was visibly drunk and belligerent. The victim’s injuries were so severe that Chelsea Police notified the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit, which has jurisdiction over homicides in that city.

The victim was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in critical condition, suffering from stab wounds to his head, neck, shoulder, and chest. He spent about five days in the hospital.

Chelsea Police detectives developed evidence suggesting that Lassiter and the victim argued inside the club shortly after the victim arrived from another bar. When the victim was ejected from the club, Lassiter is believed to have clocked out and followed him.

Once outside, Lassiter allegedly became engaged in a physical altercation with the victim, this physical. Investigators believe Lassiter stabbed the victim during this altercation.

Lassiter is represented by attorney Carmine Lepore. He will return to court on June 25.

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