A man is being charged with assault and battery after he allegedly punched another man who was reportedly creating a disturbance along Circuit avenue last weekend. 

Kevin Agatep was arraigned in Edgartown District Court on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to assault and battery, causing serious bodily injury, connected to an alleged fight outside of the Ritz on July 17.

Just before 1 a.m. that day, Oak Bluffs police received reports of a “horrific” incident; when officers responded, they found Daniel Serusa laying on the sidewalk with a trail of blood coming from his head, according to an Oak Bluffs police report. 

Witnesses said a man, later identified as Mr. Agatep, had punched Mr. Serusa in the face, police wrote. When police found Mr. Agatep down the street, he told them that Mr. Serusa was trying to start a fight, and even tried to climb into Mr. Agatep’s car. Mr. Agatep’s attorney stated that Mr. Agatep is currently homeless and lives in his car. 

Mr. Agatep claimed that he was scared of being stabbed, so he punched Mr. Serusa in the face, according to the report. Mr. Agatep then punched Mr. Serusa again, which led to serious injuries. Family of the victim described the attack as a “sucker punch.”

A witness of the fight told police a story that matched Mr. Agatep’s version of events, according to the report, so police told Mr. Agatep that they would issue him a summons for a charge of assault and battery. A group of young people also claimed Mr. Serusa was harassing them, police wrote. 

Mr. Serusa was flown to a Boston hospital, and his doctor told police that his spine was fractured and he was paralyzed from the chest down, police wrote. 

A Gofundme for Mr. Serusa was started by his mother Tammy Deese. She wrote that the family is in shock and Mr. Serusa faces a long and uncertain road to recovery.

“As a result of his injuries, Daniel is unable to work and is facing not only unexpected medical expenses but also the everyday costs of living that don’t pause during a crisis,” she wrote. “We are doing everything we can to support him, but the financial strain is overwhelming.”

After learning of the potentially life-altering injury, police issued a warrant for Mr. Agatep’s arrest on the upgraded assault charge. Police were not able to immediately find him on the Island, and he was later taken into custody while eating at a restaurant in Falmouth. 

Assistant district attorney John Wheately asked the court to hold Mr. Agatep on $35,000 bail given the seriousness of the charge, the potential five-year prison sentence it carried and the fact that he left the Island after the fight. Mr. Wheately also requested that Mr. Agatep’s bail in another pending case be revoked. 

Mr. Agatep’s attorney Casey Dobel objected to the bail request and asked for it to be set at $500. 

Ms. Dobel began her address to Judge Benjamin Barnes by acknowledging the severity of Mr. Serusa’s injuries. 

“Nothing that I say here should be interpreted to say that this is something that he deserved or that this is something that is somehow justified,” she said. 

Ms. Dobel said her client was in Oak Bluffs to try and get a burger at Fat Ronnie’s at the time, and had no interest in getting into a fight before Mr. Serusa started harassing him. 

“This is a case where somebody was looking for a fight,” she said.

Ms. Dobel said that even the $500 bail was more than her client could pay, and Mr. Agatep would gladly assent to staying away from Mr. Serusa.

“He did not want to be around Mr. Serusa in the first place,” she said. 

After hearing the arguments, Judge Barnes set Mr. Agatep’s bail at $1,300. Mr. Agatep is scheduled to have a discovery compliance and jury election hearing on August 6.