Chatham St. shooting victim critical as 3 assailants arraigned

LYNN – A Chatham Street man remains hospitalized in stable-but-critical condition after police say he was shot Saturday by men with Cambridge gang affiliations.Luckese Richards, 23, of 270 Chatham St. was shot five times near his home at 2:45 p.m. Saturday and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where he identified Nathan Belizaire, 19, of Cambridge, and Max Meneus, 24, of Malden, as two of the three men who attacked him.Menus and Belizaire and Reginald Meneus, 19, of Malden, pleaded innocent in District Court Monday to assault to murder and other assault and firearms charges.Police interviews with shooting witnesses describe how Richards was shot after being approached by two men as he bicycled along Chatham Street near Caldwell Crescent.?He cried out for help to have someone call 911,” said Assistant District Attorney Christina Ronan, quoting police reports.One witness spotted a Volkswagen moving the wrong way down Caldwell, a short street connecting Chatham to Marianna Street, and saw a dark-skinned male in the car holding a silver handgun. Another witness jumped behind a parked car when one of the gunmen pointed a gun at the witness.State and Lynn detectives tracked down leads in Lawrence, Woburn and Cambridge before converging on a Melrose address where a witness saw men matching the shooters? description transferring items from a Volkswagen to a Cadillac.Police linked a number “4” tattooed on Max Meneus and Belizaire with the “Four Point” gang in Cambridge. Ronan said Max Meneus? court record includes a probation violation and an assault on a corrections officer.?The victim did identify Nathan Belizaire as one of the shooters. He picked out two others, one of whom is Max Meneus,” Ronan said in court.Max Meneus? attorney, Jennifer Koiles, questioned the reliability of witness testimony included in arrest reports.?He was not clearly identified except by a victim hyped up on morphine,” Koiles said.Belizaire?s lawyer, Alicia Andrews, said witness descriptions of Belizaire wearing his hair in braids do not match his court appearance with short hair. Max and Reginald Meneus appeared in court with shoulder-length pleated or braided hair.Judge James Lamothe assigned Belizaire $50,000 bail; Reginald Meneus $10,000 bail and Max Meneus $25,000 bail. The three are scheduled to return to court on Sept. 24.