Police/Court
A 19-year-old Oak Bluffs man was arraigned Monday morning on a charge of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury after his infant daughter allegedly sustained a severe brain injury.
According to Cape and Islands assistant district attorney Laura Marshard, Shaun Sicsico’s 12-week-old daughter was brought to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital Saturday evening with a severe brain injury. The child was later airlifted to Boston Children’s Hospital.
A Watertown man was listed in fair condition at Massachusetts General Hospital Thursday afternoon after he became pinned under a garbage truck following a collision with that occurred while he was riding his bike on the outskirts of Edgartown. William Cress, 64, who owns a home on Down Harbor Road in Katama, was transported to the Boston hospital by ambulance.
The third weekend in July was again a busy time for the Oak Bluffs police department, which reported a busier-than-normal weekend in light of the shark tournament and festival. But while last year police said they felt overwhelmed, this year the department reported that an increased police presence may have deterred more serious incidents.
The department reported that between Thursday, July 18 and Sunday, July 21, police responded to 175 incidents, making 25 arrests and placing four people into protective custody.
Oak Bluffs police have identified a 50-year-old Oak Bluffs man who was found dead in a Barnes Road residence Wednesday as James Christopher (Chris) Walker. The cause of death remains under investigation, police said. Mr. Walker's roommate has been charged with heroin trafficking.
A 36.5-foot sailboat that washed ashore on Norton Point July 5 is finally off the beach after a week of removal efforts, and Edgartown police reported that several people who stripped the boat of its contents have returned the items.
Edgartown police Det. Sgt. Christopher Dolby told the Gazette this week that Running Free, the sailboat belonging to Bill Heldenbrand, 67, of St. Joseph, Mo., was pulled off the beach last Friday. During an attempted transatlantic voyage, Mr. Heldenbrand encountered a severe storm and was forced to abandon his boat between Florida and Bermuda.
In what was called a rare event on Martha’s Vineyard, an Idaho man was arrested Tuesday for possessing crystal methamphetamine.
Lance P. Ragsdale, 41, was arrested after Edgartown police and state police executed a search warrant for a Road to the Plains home, Edgartown Det. Sgt. Chris Dolby said.