Lynn man accused of attacking neighbor with machete

LYNN – A judge ordered $1,000 cash bail and house arrest for a Surfside Road man who allegedly attacked a neighbor with a machete Monday night.”I have no difficulty finding that anybody who takes a machete to another person is a danger, at the very least to that person,” Judge Ellen Flatley said Wednesday in Lynn District Court. She also ordered the defendant – who told his attorney he was collecting disability insurance – to seek employment. “Anyone who can wield a machete can do work,” Flatley said.David Dixon, 55, of 10 Surfside Road #6, turned himself in on a warrant for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; at 10:54 a.m. Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty to the charge later that afternoon in Lynn District Court.Police reported responding to 16 Surfside Road at 8:30 p.m. Monday on the report of a stabbing where the suspect may have a sword, Lynn Police Officer Peter Panacopoulos wrote in a report.Officers met the alleged victim, who had wounds to his right hand and right leg and who said his neighbor had stabbed him, police reported.The man’s girlfriend told police she and the alleged victim were arguing, so she went to hang out with Dixon and Dixon’s girlfriend. The alleged victim came to get her, and, as the two walked home, Dixon came running at her boyfriend with a machete.The witness said she and the alleged victim retreated to the foyer of their apartment building and tried to hold the door shut so Dixon could not get in, according to police. But Dixon allegedly broke a window in the door. The couple ran to, but could not open, the foyer’s other door to escape into the building, according to the witness. Dixon then allegedly sliced the alleged victim’s hand and stabbed him. The witness said she pleaded with Dixon to stop and pushed him away. She reported later seeing Dixon and his girlfriend fleeing the area.The alleged victim was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.Essex Assistant District Attorney Andrew Boyd requested that Dixon be found to be a danger and be held without bail pending trial.”The most troubling aspect of this case is the recollection by (the eyewitness), that there was no altercation inside Dixon’s apartment,” Boyd said. “There really seems to be no reason the attack occurred.”Boyd also noted Dixon’s record includes 39 guilty convictions, including convictions for assault and robbery charges in superior court.Defense attorney Sandra Delgado argued the alleged victim was the aggressor, however. She presented medical records showing Dixon was treated on the day after the alleged incident for a jaw broken in two places. She said her client said he had been “sucker punched” and was defending himself.She requested Dixon not be found a danger and be released on conditions.Judge Ellen Flatley found Dixon to be dangerous and ordered him held on $1,000 cash bail. Flatley also set conditions of release, including GPS monitoring and house arrest; that the defendant have no weapons, including “any knives such as swords or machetes”; and that the defendant stay away from and have no contact with the alleged victim and the witness.Dixon is scheduled to return to court Oct. 20.