Man faces charges after bloody melee

A Springfield resident is being held without bail after he allegedly attacked a man with the jagged neck of a broken liquor bottle.

 http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201002260342                                      Man faces charges after bloody melee • Rutland Herald • By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: February 26, 2010 • WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield resident is being held without bail after he allegedly attacked a man with the jagged neck of a broken liquor bottle. • Benjamin M. Carr, 46, pleaded innocent Friday in White River Junction District Court to a felony charge of aggravated assault with a weapon, and misdemeanor charges of simple assault, domestic assault, disorderly conduct and unlawful mischief, which carry a combined maximum penalty of 18 years in prison and $17,000 in fines. • According to affidavits filed with the court, around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, police responded to a report of a fight between two men at a residence on Perley Gordon Road. Police interviewed Susan Hubbell, 52, and Mark S. Ryan, 48 — both of Bridgeport, Conn. — who had come to Springfield to visit a friend of Hubbell's who associates with Carr. • Affidavits state Hubbell drank a large amount of Southern Comfort before he began hitting Hubbell's friend in the head, and when Hubbell and Ryan attempted to intervene he struck them too. The melee continued into the driveway, where Carr attempted to stab Ryan with the broken neck of the Southern Comfort bottle, and when police arrived they found both men covered in blood with numerous lacerations, records state. • Hubbell's friend, the first person Carr allegedly assaulted, told police — both verbally and in writing — that Carr did not assault her, even though police saw a visible mark on her forehead that was consistent with being struck, police said. • While Judge Robert R. Bent set bail at $50 and allowed Carr to accumulate credit for his time in jail toward a possible sentence, he also ordered Carr held without bail for violating his probation for a 2009 drunken driving conviction. • Windsor County State's Attorney Robert Sand noted Carr had failed to appear for a court proceeding in the past and his current felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, making Carr a risk for flight or nonappearance. • Carr's attorney, Jordana Levine, asked Bent to release Carr without bail, noting his strong ties to the community and that he takes care of his elderly mother. Sand disagreed. • "He (Carr) is not in a position to take care of himself and that is a prerequisite for taking care of someone else," Sand said. • Bent agreed with Sand. • "This is not someone who had a bad day after too much Southern Comfort," Bent said. • Carr is being held in Springfield prison. •  http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100226/NEWS02/2260342