BOSTON, April 23, 2014—Two men were arraigned today after a three-month grand jury investigation identified them as the assailants who kicked and beat a homeless man until a passerby shielded the victim’s body with her own, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

CRAIG PARSONS (D.O.B. 4/24/91) of West Newton and ANTHONY VARRICHIONE (D.O.B. 9/6/90) of Medway were arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court today on indictments charging them both with aggravated assault and battery and aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Parsons is additionally charged with violating the state’s witness intimidation statute in an attempt to stymie the investigation.

“As disturbing as this attack was, it also showed the courage of passersby who refused to look the other way when they saw someone being hurt,” Conley said of the Jan. 26 incident in Allston. “That bravery and compassion is in stark contrast to the cruel and craven nature of this assault.”

Assistant District Attorney Spencer Lord of the DA’s Major Felony Bureau told the court that the victim, then 50, was a homeless man panhandling for spare change in the area of 74 Allston St. at about 2:00 a.m. After a verbal altercation in which the victim was told to go away, Parsons and Varrichione allegedly approached him and began punching and kicking him. Parsons also allegedly knocked the victim’s head into the sidewalk.

A female passerby who witnessed a portion of the attack interceded, prosecutors said, by running to the victim’s aid, shielding him from the assailants until they left, and then holding his head to ensure he could breathe. Other witnesses called 911 and the victim was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in critical condition. He is expected to survive but now has no memory of the assault.

Responding Boston Police detectives gathered physical evidence, interviewed numerous witnesses, spoke with everyone present at 74 Allston St., but were unable to identify the assailants immediately. Witnesses at the scene provided general descriptions of two very large young men, but the police canvas did not turn up the assailants. Over the course of the next three months, however, the investigation continued both on the street and behind the closed doors of the Suffolk County Grand Jury. Earlier this month, after calling some 17 civilian witnesses to testify, investigators had sufficient evidence to identify Parsons and Varrichione as the assailants.

The investigation also yielded evidence that Parsons on four separate occasions directed a person known to him not to cooperate with the investigation and not to identify him to authorities, which forms the basis for the witness intimidation charge against him.

“Thanks to the effective early investigation by Boston Police, we had significant traction going into the grand jury, where we put witnesses under oath and got solid, reliable evidence,” Conley said. “The result isn’t just an indictment – it’s a case that’s been fully fleshed out well in advance of trial.”

Parsons is represented by attorney Michael Doolin and Varrichione by attorney Timothy Flaherty. They will both return to court on June 4.

–30–

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