Man who threatened roomie with sword: ‘I lost my temper’

A Gloucester man admitted he lost his temper when he threatened his roommate while wielding a traditional Okinawa sword, but insisted he never intended to hurt the young woman as his case was continued without a finding yesterday in Peabody District Court.

“I lost my temper,” Charles Parisi, 35, told the court, saying he would take responsibility for his actions and that he never threatened the victim with the sword but was only holding it during the altercation. “She doesn’t have to live in fear, I will stay away.”

“A scythe?” Judge Richard A. Mori asked, inquiring about the weapon. “Like the thing they used to cut wheat back in the day?”

Lawyers told Mori the weapon Parisi had been holding during the incident is actually a sai, a sword with two curved prongs used in martial arts.

“A sai?” a seemingly bewildered Mori asked twice more at the end of the hearing.

Gloucester police responded to a report of a domestic disturbance on Nov. 10 and a resident there said Parisi had shoved his girlfriend during an argument while the woman was holding her 9-month-old son, court documents show. Parisi told police the quarrel started over marijuana, documents show.

The victim told police Parisi picked up the sai, described as a “long, metal, pointed dagger” in court records, and told the woman, “You’re going to get beat up.”

Parisi admitted to police later that he’d made the threat but said he didn’t mean it.

During the court proceeding yesterday, the victim tearfully told Mori she’s been in constant fear since the encounter and that the most important thing to her is that Parisi undergo anger management and mental health treatment, which was ordered by the judge.

Parisi admitted sufficient facts existed to convict him on charges of assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He is required to stay away from the victim and undergo treatment as part of the agreement, which continues the case for 18 months.

Parisi, who told the court he has a bachelor’s degree in communications, is required to stay out of trouble and have no contact with the victim, in addition to the counseling.

“Will your bachelor of arts help you get by?” Mori said to Parisi, quoting the 1972 song “Dialogue” by Chicago. “I say yes, very much. Start acting like a college graduate.”