Fitchburg man charged with assaulting elderly man has new charges added

FITCHBURG » A city man, who was arrested in December for assault and battery on a person over 60 when the passenger in his sedan was found by police covered in blood after allegedly being beaten with a handgun, baseball bat and a bottle, faces new charges after the 78-year-old victim offered new information, according to police and court documents.

Officers were called to Mallard Drive on Dec. 31 on a report of a disturbance between two men. When they arrived they found a 78-year-old man in the backseat of a grey Cadillac with his shirt off, covered in blood and shivering, the officer reported at the time.

Initially, the victim wouldn’t tell officers what led to his alleged beating at the hands of Ricardo Diaz, 36, of Mt. Vernon Street, Jennifer Galante, 35, of Prescott Street, Worcester, and Kassandra Franklin, 32, of Heywood Street.

However, while at the hospital being treated for his injuries, which included cuts and bruising on his head and a possible fracture of his orbital bone, the victim told police he had been picked up by the three and asked to sell drugs for them, the officer reported.

When the victim told the three he wouldn’t, Diaz allegedly pulled out a handgun and began striking the victim in the head, and the woman allegedly beat him with a bottle and baseball bat, the victim told the officer.

While officers were responding to the disturbance, the victim told the officer, one of the women tossed the handgun out of the Cadillac, which was found later on Electric Avenue by officers, the officer reported.

The victim also said the three had taken $300 from him during the assault, but gave $150 back to him before he got out of the car to be taken to the hospital, the officer reported, adding that

$150 was found in the Cadillac’s backseat.

As a result of the incident, all three were charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a person over 60 with injury, according to court documents.

When originally arrested, Diaz was also charged with possession of a firearm during a felony and defacing a firearm’s serial number, according to court documents.

Galante was also charged with trafficking more than 10 grams of fentanyl and trafficking more than 18 and less than 36 grams of cocaine, according to court documents.

Last week, Diaz, who pleaded not guilty, was arraigned for armed robbery, identical trafficking charges as Galante and posses to distribute a Class A controlled substance, according to court documents. Because he was found dangerous as a result of the original charges, Diaz is in custody at the Worcester County House of Correction.