Ma. Framingham man charged with home invasion, arson, extort
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Framingham man charged with home invasion, arson, extortion
ASHLAND —
A man suspected of belonging to a violent Brazilian gang repeatedly beat, intimidated and threatened an Ashland man, and demanded he pay to bring deported gang members back to Massachusetts, police said.
Carlos Soares, 26, also led several gang beatings of the man over a period of several months, committed a home invasion and even set the man's house on fire, prosecutor Julia Andrus said during his arraignment in Framingham District Court yesterday.
When police arrested Soares yesterday at 7 a.m., they found him hiding in a closet at his apartment at 206 Hollis St., Framingham, clutching an envelope that contained several identifications as well as reservations for a flight to Brazil, Andrus said.
The investigation, and most of the 12 charges Soares is facing, stem from incidents in April, but police had not been able to identify Soares because of a multitude of aliases, she said.
On April 10, Ashland Police investigated a break-in at a Water Street home. A woman said someone had stolen jewelry and about $2,000 from her safe.
According to a police report filed by Sgt. Gregg Wildman, she suspected the break-in had something to do with her neighbor.
They spoke to the neighbor, who at first denied knowing anything about the burglary. Two days later, on April 12, he said a stranger tried to sell him the jewelry, Wildman said in his report.
Two days later, police went to the neighbor's Water Street home for a report of a fire. Someone had set the trash on fire in his kitchen, and police found a note written in Portuguese under a rock on the kitchen counter, the sergeant said.
The translated note said, "Get out of here, someone is trying to set you up, they didn't keep their word, we're going to take this house down," Wildman said.
The investigation continued until April 28, when the man went to the police station with his face and jaw covered with bruises and told police that he "is scared for his life," the sergeant said.
He said he was jumped as he walked in Framingham by a group of men and said he was afraid if they knew he was talking to the police "they would kill him." He said the men also knew where his parents lived and they threatened his sister.
He said two men, Marcelli F. Caetano and Vito Franco, broke into his parents' Framingham home in 2007. The men had since been deported and were members of Amigos dos Amigos, which is a gang based in Brazil, Wildman said.
Since then, another gang member, "Juniho," had been harassing him, calling him a snitch and demanding money from him.
Juniho, Wildman said, was later identified as Soares.
Soares had jumped the Ashland man after Caetano and Franco were deported. The man also said he was attacked last year at Bowditch Field in Framingham and beaten by a group of men wearing brass knuckles.
"Juniho (Soares) stated that he was going to kill him because he got his friends and 'brother' deported," Wildman said.
During one of the attacks, the Ashland man said Soares ordered him to give him $10,000 to bring the deported gang members back to the U.S. Soares told him which bank account to deposit the money in, and the man said he put $3,200 into the account, the sergeant said in the report.
The man said that on April 1, Soares and two other men forced their way into his house and demanded the rest of the money.
"(The victim) said they said he 'better find a way to get the money or we'll kill you,' " Wildman said.
Two of the men held him against a wall, while the third used a black ink pad and a piece of paper to take the man's fingerprints for an unknown reason.
Several times, the Ashland man said he came home and noticed signs that someone had been in his house.
On April 24, the man said he was walking through the Jefferson Hills apartment complex in Framingham when he was attacked by several men, including Soares.
They threatened to "blow his head off," and Soares showed the victim a handgun, Wildman said.
The incidents continued in July, when Soares called the man demanding the money. Soares then ordered the man to fill a prescription for him and he left the script under a rock in the Ashland yard.
After the pharmacist refused to fill the prescription for an unspecified drug, Soares threatened to kill the man and his family, Wildman said.
He was attacked several more times, the sergeant said.
Police were finally able to identify Soares after using a social networking website similar to Facebook, but geared toward Brazilians, said Andrus, the prosecutor, during the arraignment.
That led them to Soares, and officers served a warrant at his Framingham house yesterday at 7 a.m., Andrus said.
The documents he had with him included at least two Massachusetts driver's licenses under different names, she said.
Soares is charged with home invasion, arson, extortion by threat of harm, breaking and entering, larceny of more than $250, malicious destruction of property, assault and battery, two counts of uttering, making a false application for a license, forgery of a license and altering a license.
Andrus said the $25,000 bail was necessary because Soares is a flight risk, and due to the serious nature of the allegations.
"The victim in this case is afraid of the defendant," said Andrus. "Every time he reported it to the police, he was shaking in fear."
Soares' lawyer, Robert Costello, argued that his client should be released without bail. He said Soares is not responsible for any of the crimes, and is the victim of mistaken identity.
The only reason he was going to Brazil was to set up things there for his mother, who planned to move from Framingham back to her home country, Costello said.
He also said the alleged victim may not be the most trustworthy witness, and questioned if it was a strong case.
"All of the suggestions of threats, intimidation, etc., comes from this one alleged victim," Costello said.
Judge Robert Greco ordered Soares held on $25,000 bail. He will be held at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge and is due back in court on Nov. 15 for a pretrial conference.
(Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@cnc.com.)
