A Winthrop man is charged with brutally beating a woman early Sunday morning and attempting to intimidate her into lying to police about the incident, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
Anthony Stokes, 39, pleaded not guilty to domestic assault and battery and witness intimidation at his arraignment in Boston Municipal Court – Central on Monday, according to court records. The judge ordered him kept without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on July 27.
According to prosecutors, Boston police began investigating the incident on July 19 after receiving a report of domestic violence at Massachusetts General Hospital. Officers observed that the victim, a 39-year-old woman, had scratch marks on her back and torso, bruises on her arms, hands, and chest, and swollen eyes.
Though the woman was in excruciating pain and unable to talk, officers discovered that a guy, subsequently identified as Stokes, had punched her hard in the face while she was riding in his car, prosecutors said. Officers discovered the car that had dropped the victim off outside the emergency room, with Stokes inside.
Stokes told police that while he and the victim were at a club on Saturday night, she went outside for a smoke before running back inside and accusing him of allowing a group of women to physically assault her, according to prosecutors. Stokes claimed that no physical altercation had occurred between him and the victim.
According to the inquiry, Stokes drove the woman to East Boston’s Orient Heights neighbourhood on Saturday night and, after parking, drunkenly shouted at and punched her in the face. He then drove to Somerset Street in Winthrop, parked, and yelled at and hit the victim again.
The victim eventually asked Stokes to drive her to the hospital, according to authorities. Instead, he drove her to an East Boston clinic and accompanied her while she received therapy.
Due to the seriousness of the victim’s injuries, clinic workers urged her to proceed to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to authorities. The staff members offered to call a rideshare to transport the victim to the hospital, but Stokes insisted on driving her himself and ushered her back into his car.
Stokes allegedly struck the victim in the face with his fists while driving to the hospital. When they arrived, he instructed the woman to remain in the car and notify hospital staff and police that she had been assaulted by a group of women. The victim eventually parted with Stokes and walked into the emergency department with an unknown mother and daughter.
Prosecutors say Stokes has a history of assault and intimidation charges going back to 2005.
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