Oak Bluffs Police were dispatched to the Ritz Cafe for a physical assault incident in the early hours of Friday morning that resulted in a man being paralyzed from the waist down, according to a police incident report and the man’s family.
A male identified by police as Daniel Serusa, was allegedly injured by Kevin Agatep. A report by police stated that Agatep punched Serusa in the face, causing him to fall backwards. Police were dispatched at approximately 12:42 am Friday. Serusa was found by police lying on the sidewalk with a “small trail of blood running from his head and a small laceration on his lower lip,” the report stated.
Serusa was taken to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital on a stretcher, then was medevaced to Massachusetts General Hospital at roughly 3:30 am Friday morning. Doctors informed Oak Bluffs Police that Serusa’s C6 was fractured with spinal cord compression, and his jaw was fractured. Doctors told police that Serusa would be paralyzed from the waist down.
Serusa’s mother, Tammy Deese, and brother, Zac Sweeney, both posted on social media about the incident and shared updates with The Times. According to Deese, Serusa is currently in Boston for treatment, and she posted that the “next ten days will be crucial.”
“He has no feelings from his nipple line down to his toes,” Deese wrote in a post on Friday. “He was in surgery for about five hours this morning because he had a vertebrae that was broken and a pooling of blood on his spine.”
Sweeney told The Times that to his knowledge, his brother didn’t know Agatep prior to the interaction.
Officers found Agatep after the incident Friday morning walking on Vineyard Avenue.
According to the incident report, Agatep stated to police that Serusa was trying to start a fight, and Agatep wanted to be left alone. He said that he made multiple attempts to separate himself from Serusa.
The report also stated Agatep said that Serusa opened Agatep’s rear driver side car door before Agatep punched him in the face, causing Serusa to fall back onto the sidewalk. Agatep stated that he punched him again “even though he shouldn’t have.”
According to the report, officers advised Agatep that he would be summoned to court for assault and battery. Agatep stated he understood and then was released by officers.
Officers interviewed witnesses, the report stated, who corroborated Agatep’s story.
Officers also met with Serusa at the hospital. Serusa told the officers he didn’t remember anything leading up to the fight, the report said.
According to the report, based on Serusa’s permanent life-altering injury, it was decided that Agatep would be arrested for assault and battery with serious bodily injury. Officers were searching for Agatep but hadn’t located him as of Saturday morning.
Oak Bluffs Chief of Police Jonathan Searle said that the “suspect has been arrested” just before noon Saturday.
“The suspect was identified during the initial investigation. A felony warrant for assault and battery causing serious bodily injury was obtained in [Edgartown District Court] first thing yesterday. The suspect was arrested in Falmouth today. The investigation is continuing and a more detailed statement will be released when appropriate,” Searle said in a statement to The Times Saturday.