BOSTON -- The brutal, random killing of a father of three waiting for take-out food apparently was carried out to intimidate the owners of the restaurant who earlier had complained to police about unruly youths.
Police arrested three men early Thursday following the fatal beating and stabbing of Charleston Sargeant at a Tasty Chicken outlet in the city's Dorchester section. A fourth suspect was arrested early Friday, and police said more were being sought.
The restaurant owners recently had run-ins with youths in the area. Local merchants and friends of the victim speculated Thursday the gang meant to intimidate the owners by attacking customers.
'Let's close them down,' one of the attackers said just before Sargeant was struck in the head with a portable radio-tape player, according to Edward Toomer, a friend who was with the victim at the time of the attack.
After the killing, the restaurant owners announced they would not reopen.
The suspects -- identified as Lamar Johnson, 24, of Roxbury; Aristies Duarte, 17, and Adriano Barros, 18, both of Dorchester -- all pleaded innocent to charges of first-degree murder in Municipal Court. Judge James Dolan ordered each held at the Suffolk County Jail in lieu of $100,00 cash bail, or $1 million surety.
A fourth suspect, James Villaroel, 21, of Dorchester, was arrested early Friday and faced arraignmentlater in the day.
Authorities said Johnson had been arrested 26 times previously on drug-related and assault charges, but had never served a day in jail.
Witnesses Thursday said Sargeant, 25, of Dorchester, was with his wife Debbie and Toomer in the restaurant waiting for their order just after midnight when a large group of young men smashed a bottle outside the restaurant and stormed inside.
Police said several men smashed the portable radio over Sargeant's head. When he fell, others joined in, kicking, punching and stabbing the victim.
'Help me, Debbie,' were the last words Sargeant said as he lay dying on the floor of the restaurant. Sargeant, the father of three, was an Air Force veteran and businessman who recently opened a T-shirt shop in Mattapan. He was also a percussionist with a jazz-reggae band, Blade, which was just about to cut its first album.
Police said that while they had no clear motive for the vicious attack, they believe it was unplanned.
'It seems like an unprovoked random, senseless act of violence,' Boston Police Superintendent Paul Evans told a news conference.
'If you're looking for me to put some sense to it, I can't. Robbery is not a motive. It's a tragic incident of an individual who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,' Evans said.
Witnesses in the Upham's Corner neighborhood said a drug-dealing gang of youths known as 'The Bulls' has been terrorizing the area for months, and that the attack on Sargent was intended for the Tasty Chicken's owners, who have barred the youths from the restaurant.
'I think it was a vendetta against the restaurant. They (the gang members) had tried to sell drugs in front of the restaurant, and one of them was overheard just before the attack saying, 'Let's close the place down,'' said Toomer.NEWLN: