NORTHAMPTON — Patrick Bemben, the former Hadley man prosecutors say helped orchestrate a violent home invasion on an Amherst apartment last October, was released from jail Monday after a judge authorized his bail.
The 25-year-old engineering student will spend the next 90 days at a residential drug treatment center, a requirement of his release conditions.
Bemben previously pleaded not guilty at his Hampshire Superior Court arraignment earlier this month to charges of conspiracy to commit home invasion, conspiracy to commit armed masked robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious injury, three counts of armed masked robbery, nighttime breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, larceny from a building and use of body armor during a felony.
Defense counsel David Hoose successfully argued for Bemben’s release on $35,000 cash bail. Bemben will receive treatment at the Recovery Center of Americas in Westminster. He’s due back in court April 18.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 2016, authorities said Bemben and several other men, who were brandished tactical gear and weapons — including a hatchet and a handgun — ransacked a Southeast Street residence for drugs and valuables.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne said at Bemben’s arraignment that some of the men who lived in the residence, however, confronted the masked assailants in the driveway where a fight broke out.
One of the residents was badly sliced on an arm with a hatchet, Gagne said, while Bemben was struck in the head with a baseball bat. That blow severed part of his ear, Hoose contends. Authorities also said another one of the residents reported he was pistol-whipped.
The men accused in the attack, including Bemben, fled into a wooded area behind the home where numerous items typically used in marijuana production were recovered, police said, adding that they also found at the scene a large container with more than a pound of marijuana.
After the foot pursuit, prosecutors said Bemben was in possession of goggles, a headlamp, tactical bulletproof vest, hatchet, pepper spray, various knives and a baton.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.