NORTHAMPTON — A former Hadley man who prosecutors say played a part in a drug-related home invasion in Amherst last weekend was denied right to bail following a dangerousness hearing Wednesday.
Patrick Bemben, 25, who lives in Worcester where he is an engineering student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery.
A hearing for Bemben was held in Hampshire Superior Court for a judge to determine whether he would be granted the right to bail after being previously held.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Robert Opsitnick argued before Judge Mark Mason that Bemben and a group of masked individuals fled into a wooded area near South East Street when police responded to a report of an armed robbery and assault.
Following a brief foot pursuit, police were able to catch up with Bemben who was in possession of goggles, a headlamp, tactical bulletproof vest, hatchet, pepper spray, various knives and a baton, Opsitnick said in court.
Inside the house where the robbery allegedly took place, authorities found a 23-year-old man who suffered a severe laceration to his upper right arm that will require surgery to repair, police said. The man told officers he believed that a hatchet was used to inflict his injury.
Another resident, a 24-year-old man, was pistol-whipped and beaten by “multiple aggressors,” according to police.
During the incident, Bemben, too, suffered multiple injuries, his attorney Alfred Chamberland told the judge. A portion of Bemben’s right ear was severed after he was struck from behind with a blunt object, Chamberland said. In court, Bemben’s ear was completely concealed by a white bandage.
From a bed in Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Bemben told police he and the other perpetrators, who have not been caught, targeted the South East Street home because they believed it to contain large quantities of marijuana and other narcotics.
“There’s no indication that there were more places planned,” Opsitnick said, “but if there are places out there doing the same type of activity, they could be in danger (if Bemben were released).”
As for the police reports, Chamberland argued that there’s no indication of any Miranda warning being given.
“There’s also evidence (Bemben) may have been concussed when he gave that statement (at the hospital),” he said.
Chamberland cited his client’s good grades and lack of previous criminal record as reason for his not being a further threat to the alleged victims or general public.
Mason disagreed, and Bemben will remain jailed pending trial proceedings.
“These facts are nothing short of terrifying,” Mason said, referring to what’s alleged in the police report. “I can’t imagine what you were thinking.”
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.