MARBLEHEAD — Two Marblehead teenagers are facing multiple criminal charges for a violent beating that left the victim with a concussion, a swollen-shut left eye, and abrasions on his face, neck and hands, according to police.
Michael Allan Ehlert, 18, of 12 Reed St. and Michael Douglas Leoni, 17, of 14 Devereux Terrace are accused of assaulting a high-school-age boy who was walking home around 7 p.m. on Oct. 29. A judge on Thursday found Leoni to be a threat to the community and ordered him held until his trial or for up to 60 days, said Carrie Kimball Monahan, spokesperson for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. A dangerousness hearing will be held for Ehlert on Tuesday, she said.
The victim was walking by the bus stop and graveyard on Elm Street when he passed Ehlert and Leoni, both known to him. Within seconds, the victim was grabbed from behind in a choke hold and dragged into the graveyard by Ehlert, a police report said. Ehlert then sat on top of the boy, straddling his chest, and "began to choke him and hit him repeatedly about the head and face" while Leoni searched him for money and kicked him, the report said.
Ehlert eventually sat the boy up, made him smoke a cigarette with him and told him to tell his mother that a "Hispanic kid in Lynn beat him and he took the bus home," according to the report.
The teens took the boy's wallet and asked for his iPod. When he told them it was at his house, Leoni said, "It looks like we're going to your house," according to the report.
On the way, Ehlert at one point said to Leoni, "This is why I like murder better, because you don't have to worry about them snitching," the report said.
At the boy's house, he and Ehlert walked downstairs to his bedroom to retrieve the iPod. Leoni briefly kept watch outside and then entered and began eating Chinese food that was in the kitchen, the report said. The report said Ehlert threatened bodily harm to the boy and his mother if he snitched. The teens then left, with Leoni taking the food, General Gao's chicken, with him.
The boy called his mother. She initially hesitated to alert police because she feared Ehlert was affiliated with the "Crips," the report said. She reported the incident to police the following morning.
Ehlert and Leoni were arrested Nov. 7. Ehlert has been charged with unarmed assault with the intent to rob, kidnapping, larceny from a building, intimidating a witness, assault and battery, and threatening to commit a crime. Leoni has been charged with unarmed assault with the intent to rob, kidnapping, larceny from a building, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (shod foot).
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