Four Arrested After Allegedly Beating And Binding Man With Extension Cord At Essex Road Playground

Four men were arrested Thursday on Essex Road after allegedly beating a man with a wooden stake and restraining him with an extension cord at the neighborhood playground before forcibly taking him to a residence.

The man who was attacked was treated at the scene by Nantucket Fire Department EMTs before being transported to Nantucket Cottage Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Nantucket Police Department chief Jody Kasper.

The incident prompted a large response by island police and Massachusetts State Police Troopers to the mid-island neighborhood around 4:33 p.m Thursday afternoon. Kasper said the person who was attacked was a 28-year-old man who lives on Nantucket.

"Upon arrival, officers located the victim, who was restrained with an extension cord," Kasper stated in an email to the Current. "The preliminary investigation indicates that several individuals confronted the victim in the parking lot of Winter Park, located at 43 Essex Road, repeatedly struck him with closed fists and a wooden stake, kicked him multiple times, and forcibly brought him to a residence at 24 Essex Road."

Kasper identified the four suspects who were arrested as Calray Brown, 31, Dijon Hazel, 30, Alvin Barnett, 21, and Newton Lawrence, 34. All four men reside on Nantucket.

They are each facing multiple charges, including kidnapping (one count), assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (four counts), assault and battery (16 counts), and assault (one count). They have been released from custody after posting bail, and arraignments are scheduled for Monday in Nantucket District Court.

Lawrence was released on $1,000 cash bail, and the other three suspects were each released after posting $500 bail.

Calray Brown reached out to the Current on Friday afternoon to say that the incident on Essex Road happened as a result of a prior altercation that occurred on Tuesday, July 14, on Cedar Circle. Brown claims that the man who was attacked at the Essex Road playground and an accomplice, Shawn Duncan, assaulted him at a Cedar Circle residence, smashing a bottle over his head and striking him with a construction level. Police records show Shawn Duncan was indeed arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and threatening to commit a crime on that day.

Brown said he and his friends spotted the other man at the Essex Road playground parking lot on Thursday, and they attempted to hold and restrain him until police could arrive.

"So I got attacked by those two guys on Cedar Circle on Tuesday," Brown said. "Yesterday, the guy the police was looking for, the other guy, we tried to catch him so they could come and get him. And I'm the one that called the police as well. We just caught him so the police could come and hold him."

Police declined to share any details on what prompted the attack at the playground.

This is a developing story and will be updated as we gather more information...