Cocaine found after Oak Bluffs beating

By
Daniel Greenman
-
38
A still from a video of the incident. Video withheld due to violent imagery —Witness video obtained by The Times

Updated June 5.

After a brutal beating outside the Ritz Cafe early Friday morning that sent a man to the hospital, police found 3.5 grams of cocaine in the alleged attackers’ hotel room.

Devante Santiago and Frank Mogavero were arraigned at Edgartown District Court on Friday, each on multiple felony charges.

In a Facebook post, Oak Bluffs Police said witnesses told the investigating officers “that during the altercation, one male stomped on another male’s head, causing him to go unconscious.”

A video obtained by The Times of part of the incident appears to support that account.

The video shows three men and three women on the corner outside the popular bar. A shouting match within the group escalates when a man wearing a green or gray hoodie shoves a woman, shortly after which another of the men, wearing a T shirt, approaches and punches him.

The man in the hoodie is knocked to the ground, after which his attacker appears to stomp on his head with his left foot. The other assailant is then seen repeatedly punching the motionless, fallen man.

Police did not identify the injured man, who they said was flown off-Island for medical treatment. He suffered an eye injury, but his condition was not clear Wednesday.

Santiago was charged on Friday with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (felony); assault and battery (felony), serious bodily injury; disorderly conduct; mayhem (felony), property vandalism (felony); and intimidating a witness (felony).

Mogavero was charged with assault and battery, serious bodily injury (felony); disorderly conduct; and mayhem (felony).

Further details emerged Tuesday at Edgartown District Court during a dangerousness hearing for the two men, held in order to determine whether any conditions for their release on bail could reasonably assure people’s safety.

According to the state prosecutor, police executed a search warrant for Santiago and Mogavero’s hotel room after the fight, where they found 3.5 grams of cocaine. 

The prosecutor said Santiago had grabbed the phone of an individual filming him during the beating and smashed it, accounting for his vandalism charge. 

He identified Santiago as the man who allegedly punched the victim before he was knocked to the ground and then stomped on him, and Mogavero as the man who allegedly repeatedly punched him as he lay on the ground.

Scott M. Martin, Mogavero’s private attorney, said at the hearing that the alleged victim had sustained injury to his eye.

Judge Benjamin Barnes agreed to release the defendants on condition they each maintain their current employment, stay away from and do not contact the alleged victim, stay away from Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, and check in with probation officers three times weekly. 

He set a $6,000 cash bail for Mogavero, and $3,000 cash bail for Santiago.

This article was updated to reflect new information from court hearings.

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38 COMMENTS

  1. Curious if these felons are legal residents? Hope your beginning to see this big push for affordable housing also can bring in a deadly crowd. Soon we might have gangs? Be careful what you wish for.

    • Mark– they are not felons– they have been charged with
      seven felonies, but they are not “felons” until convicted.
      We learned that last Thursday—
      Between the 2 of them, they are 27 counts short of
      being able to run for president.
      I noticed that you have not complained about wealthy
      people coming here who have a habit of stabbing
      young girls.
      As far as gangs go– have you already forgotten that a
      long time Vineyard resident who was in a motorcycle
      gang was murdered about 2 1/2 years ago ?
      The gangs have been here for a while.

      • Thank you for correcting him and speaking for a lot of us. It’s people like him that are the problem. They are the gang

        • Brian–“Taunton man charged; dispute appears to be gang-related.”
          “A 39-year-old Oak Bluffs man was allegedly killed in a shooting by a rival gang member at JC’s Cafe in Fall River Friday night,..”
          Martha’s Vineyard Times –Sept 19 2019–
          Sorry for getting the year wrong. The gangs have been here longer than
          I thought. But I guess if it’s your guys, they are a “club” and the
          other guys ( presumably “foreigners”) are a “gang”.
          And ok– they don’t have a clubhouse here — does that mean they never
          existed ?
          I apologize to the family and friends of Mr. Voshell, for mentioning
          this incident, as I know it is a painful issue,
          But I feel the need to address the comment about
          gangs coming here soon.

    • OK Boomer. The whole “affordable housing brings gangs” argument is a goofy thing boomers seem to hold onto. Yes, when you purchased your home on island for $10,000, things have changed since then.

      Beyond that, what actual affordable housing exists? This is such an out of touch boomer comment its almost shocking, except nothing shocks me with you old boomers anymore

      • Tom– It’s not “boomers” that are putting up this “goofy” argument.
        It’s not an age thing. I am a boomer, and i detest the people
        who have some sort of “bias” against anyone who is not a middle class
        white person. I think that kind of “bias” is just a knee
        jerk reaction from those who consume right wing media.
        Fox “news” for instance will make it their top story
        for months if an “illegal”, or a person who is Hispanic
        or Muslin commits a violent crime against a pretty white girl.
        According to them the “dem cities” are being overrun with homeless
        drug addicted “scum” and “dirty” immigrants. They scare the wilfully ignorant
        with twisted statistics and outright lies about crime rates and who
        commits those crimes.
        Violent crime in the U.S has dropped but the wanna be dictator convinces
        people of all ages that it is the worst it has EVER been , and the “illegals”
        and the “dems” are to blame.

        The political party that brought us the concept of “alternative facts”
        and follows a 34 times over convicted philandering race baiting
        pathological lying felon who thinks he won the presidential election of 2020
        Is the problem. And his minions think he lost because millions of “illegals”
        and dead people voted for Biden. Indeed , the first comment here questions their
        legal status. If the names were John Smith and Bill Jones would someone
        make that sort of “biased” comment ?
        Any crime by anyone with a “non American” sounding name is the red
        meat to justify their racist beliefs. Please don’t insult boomers.
        Put the blame where the blame belongs.

        • Don, do you ever wonder if people vote like they pick their sports teams, or which brand of car they drive? Yankees? Ford? Chev? Red Sox? Or which reality tv show they used to watch? They’re fans, not necessarily concerned with facts

        • By the way, my link only goes to 2022– there was 13 %
          drop in the murder rate in 2023. Just sayin’

      • Tommy,
        Simmer down. I am from New Bedford and I am hear to tell you that “affordable housing” DOES bring gangs, violence, drugs, homocide, rape, disorderly conduct and more. You have no idea what you are talking about.

        Have a great evening, Reggie

        • You are speaking about low income housing complexes which New Bedford and Boston have had for many years.

    • They are not felons…unlike individual1, they have not been convicted of this crime…and what does affordable housing have to do with it? Did Mr. Ravizza live in affordable housing? And on what basis do you think these people were living in affordable housing?

    • The Ritz has long and well deserved reputation as the Island’s fight bar. Move along, nothing new here.

      • The Lamppost, yeah. That rep lingers. The Ritz is pretty mellow. Especially when Johnny and Delaney are in. And have you tried the coconut shrimp?

        • I am very familiar with the Lamppost. I managed it for a couple of years.
          Our shutoffs rolled down the hill to the Ritz. No coconut shrimp, just chips and booze.

      • The best fights used to be at Lou’s Worry. Dudes would get thrown out the second floor window at least once every summer. Man, those were the days….

  2. Please throw the book at these thugs this can not go unpunished. Bring them into court in shackles for all to see. Prison is where they belong. Fine the Ritz for this nonsense

  3. It looks like the outside world is now permeating its ilk on the sleepy streets on MV. Will Circuit Ave soon be soon be littered with tents and cardboard boxes housing illegal migrants? Or will the NIMBY residents pack them up send them to other places just like before? This could be a long summer on the mean streets of MV.

    • Carl–would it be ok if those tents and cardboard boxes were
      housing drug addicted homeless veterans ?

    • The outside world has been here much longer than you.
      Circuit Ave has not been sleepy, in August, for over 60 years.
      The Island has a very long history of migrants.
      If you were born in the Azores you are a native born Islander

  4. Sure let’s bring pot shops to Circuit Ave as proposed by many locals. This should dumb down the population a bit more and perhaps mellow out the drunks. Any local official, hired or voted in, who supports pot shops on Circuit should be fired immediately. Can’t buy a nip or a menthol cigarette but pot and pure THC, no problem, have at it. And don’t worry, mescaline will be legal soon too. But no menthols for u. They’ll dumb everyone down one way or another.

    • Who the heck brought up pot?? And I haven’t heard ANYONE mention mescaline since I was 16!! Does that even still EXIST??

  5. Don– “pot” is legal in Ma.
    You might not be able to buy a nip, but you
    can buy vodka by the gallon.
    Can you buy a menthol joint ?
    But I have to say your fear mongering about some
    hallucinogens is nowhere near as good as Carl’s about
    tents and cardboard boxes. And hopefully, your
    prediction will actually come true. That’s great for the
    freedom loving patriots.

  7. Way to go Mr. Keller. Great job attempting to tie this tragedy politics and Trump. It’s extremely unfortunate that ur puny liberal brain can’t feel or see beyond a serious tragedy which could possibly take someone’s life.

  8. People who stomp a person’s head into the ground – should not be released back into the public for $6000 bail.

Comments are closed.