A convicted rapist living in Chelsea under a New Yorker’s identity allegedly pointed a gun at a woman’s head, stripped naked and shot an elderly man three times, threatened to kill a neighbor, and tried to carjack two more victims before fleeing the area and being arrested by a Braintree SWAT team earlier this month, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

CHARLES N. DIORIO (D.O.B. 4/2/62), a.k.a. JOSEPH RABINOVICH, was arraigned yesterday on charges of armed assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault and battery, identity fraud, failure to register as a sex offender, four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of armed carjacking, and a slew of weapons offenses for the bizarre and violent series of events on Fifth Street throughout July 2.

Assistant District Attorney Amy Martin of Conley’s Chelsea District Court staff recommended that Diorio be held on $250,000 cash bail; Judge James Wexler imposed that amount and ordered Diorio to stay away from the victims and the scene of the crimes while the case is open. Diorio had previously been arraigned in Norfolk County for alleged offenses committed in that jurisdiction after the Chelsea incidents.

The incident began to unfold shortly before midnight on the night of July 2, when Chelsea Police responded to a rooming house at 16 Fifth St. for a report of a person shot. The victim, a 74-year-old man, was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital for gunshot wounds to his right arm, abdomen, and back. Though serious, the injuries were not life-threatening.

Chelsea Police soon learned that the victim was the building manager and the assailant was known to him as Joseph Rabinovich, a resident for about two years. Earlier that night, investigators learned, the building manager and another resident, a 24-year-old man, were speaking in the hallway near Rabinovich’s room when Rabinovich opened his door and walked out completely naked.

The building manager told him to put some clothes on. During a verbal exchange that followed, Rabinovich allegedly produced a handgun and pointed it at the fellow resident’s head. Rabinovich then allegedly ordered that victim into the victim’s room at gunpoint before slamming the door behind him.

When the building manager said he was calling police, the gunman allegedly opened fire, striking him three times.

The fellow resident used this opportunity to jump into a closet, holding the door closed with his bare hands while Rabinovich tried to open it. He then heard the suspect getting dressed but stayed put until he was sure the suspect was gone. When he opened the door and looked into the hallway, Chelsea Police were streaming into the building.

In the interim, investigators would learn, the suspect had approached two men, ages 25 and 26, as they parked their car on Luther Place near the Fifth Street scene. The man allegedly walked up as they exited the vehicle, pointed a gun at them, and racked the slide, ejecting a round. The two men ran away from the car with the owner keeping custody of his car keys. Chelsea Police responded to this scene as well, recovering a live round just outside the vehicle.

Meanwhile, at Chelsea Police headquarters, a 29-year-old Chelsea woman indicated that a man matching Diorio’s description had pointed a gun at her on Fifth Street earlier that night and suggested it might have been the shooter. Upon further investigation by Chelsea Police detectives, it was learned that the suspect’s true name was Charles N. Diorio, even though Diorio has in his possession an identification card in the name of Joseph Rabinovich. Diorio had previously been convicted of rape and other violent crimes in New York State. Diorio has not registered as a sex offender in Massachusetts.

A large-scale search of the area for Diorio was unsuccessful. Early in the morning of July 3, however, Braintree Police notified Chelsea that they had a suspect in a crime in that jurisdiction believed to have been involved in the Chelsea shooting. It soon became clear that Chelsea’s suspect and Braintree’s were one and the same. Diorio was held on the Braintree offenses, arraigned in Quincy District Court on July 5, and finally transported to Chelsea District Court yesterday.

Diorio is represented by attorney John Hayes. He will return to court on Aug. 22.