Man Tried to Kill Teen with Brass Knuckles, Police Say

This post was reported and written by Jack Tobias.

Almost a year after a teenager was brutally beaten at a Bushkill Township birthday party, an Allentown man suspected of being a Latin Kings gang member has been charged with attempted homicide.

Court records say Michael Jay Lopez, 20, used brass knuckles as he and others beat the teen unconscious, then continued to assault and kick him while he was motionless on the ground.

When the attack was over, Lopez said, “the kid’s sleeping,” the records say.

The records also say an unidentified male – “John Doe” – beat the teen with a baseball bat.

The July 2012 attack was revenge for an earlier assault at the party in which a boy’s front teeth were “knocked from the bone inside his mouth,” the records say.

Lopez and John Doe were picked out of surveillance video at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg, where the boy was taken. It’s unclear if Lopez and the other male took the juvenile to the hospital or visited him later.

Patch reported the second assault in a December story about six people being charged in connection with the attack. Lopez was not one of them.

The victim in that assault was left permanently deaf in his left ear, had extensive head and chest injuries, and suffered a broken nose (his nose was slanted to the right side), shattered orbital bones in an eye socket and multiple cuts, contusions, abrasions and bruising to all parts of his body, the records say.

He required corrective surgery for the nose and eye socket injuries.

The six previous people charged are from Bethlehem, Bath and the townships of Moore, East Allen and South Whitehall.

Also previously charged in the case was Nicholas Fry, whose 19th birthday was being celebrated at the party at his home, 228 E. Mountain Road in Bushkill Township.

According to the records, here's what on the night of July 19, into the morning of July 20:

The boy who was attacked earlier at the party was a friend of Lopez’s. The friend and two others were able to leave the house. As they drove south to a Bath convenience store, the person allegedly attacked called friends and told them what happened.

A larger group of people eventually gathered at the convenience store. The  victim was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg while others were recruited to come to the store. Two of them -- Lopez and John Doe – are identified as members of the Latin Kings.

The group left the convenience store and hid outside the Mountain Road house, waiting to get back at someone for the earlier attack. Parenti, a guest at the party, walked down the driveway looking for a friend who had argued with party host Fry.

The victim told police he does not recall being beaten or attacked until he was found in the driveway and carried into the house and later taken to a hospital.

A criminal complaint filed by Bushkill Det. Donald Ackerman and Officer Peter Dewey also says:

—The victim was first taken to Easton Hospital, stabilized there, then taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, a trauma center.

—Four to five cars, each carrying three or four people, had gathered at the Sunoco A Plus Mini Market at Main and Walnut (Route 512) streets, Bath, to plot the revenge attack.

—The group that went from Bath to the birthday party consisted of males and females. Once there, one male ordered “all the guys go and the girls stay back.”

—The officers wrote that six of the people provided details “that only a participant in the same would have knowledge of.”

Lopez, of 542 N. Fourth St. in Allentown, was charged with the following:

Attempted homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, criminal conspiracy, harassment, disorderly conduct, and loitering and prowling at nighttime.

Lopez was arraigned Wednesday by on-duty District Judge John Capobianco of Nazareth and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail.

The Patch story posted on Dec. 19 gave information on six people who were charged:

–Joseph Sebastia Esteves, 21, of the 3000 block of Linden Street, Bethlehem. Charged with conspiracy - aggravated assault, corruption of minors, loitering and prowling at nighttime, and disorderly conduct - engage in fighting.

—Jeremy Spencer Cummings, 20, and Austin Ryan Cummings, 21, both of the 2000 block of Beacon Road, Moore Township. Both charged with aggravated assault, corruption of minors, disorderly conduct - engage in fighting, and loitering and prowling at nighttime.

—Felipe Figueiredo Viana, 20, of the 5000 block of Nor-Bath Blvd., East Allen Township. Charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy - aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment, disorderly conduct - engage in fighting, loitering and prowling at nighttime, and corruption of minors.

—Rebecca Christine Gogal, 21, of the 1000 block of N. Filbert Street, South Whitehall Township. Charged with possession of marijuana, use/possession of drug paraphernalia, purchase alcoholic beverage by a minor (she was 20 at the time of the party) and corruption of minors.

—John Metri, 19, of the 200 block of Old Forge Drive, Bath. Charged with corruption of minors, disorderly conduct - engage in fighting, and loitering and prowling at nighttime.

Fry, meanwhile, also was charged in December. A charge of aggravated assault was withdrawn, but a number of charges were later held for county court action.

They include simple assault, reckless endangerment, corruption of minors (juveniles allegedly were consuming alcohol at the party) and possession of marijuana.