Saugus man pleads not guilty to bat attack

LYNN – A judge ordered a Saugus man held without bail Monday after police said the man beat several people, including his daughter’s ex-boyfriend, with a baseball bat during a large fight Sunday afternoon.”According to the victims the people who exited the cars, thought to be five men and three women, yelled ?we’re Latin Kings (expletive),'” Lynn Police Officer John Mackin wrote in a report.Anthony Morales, 39, of 366 Central St. #1, Saugus, was arrested on a warrant charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon, three counts; and armed assault in a dwelling, two counts. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday afternoon in Lynn District Court.Lynn Police reported responding to Woodman Street at 3:45 p.m. Sunday on the report of a group fight involving baseball bats.Police met three men and one woman who told officers they were in front of a local address when two cars pulled up and five men and three women got out, officers reported.Morales allegedly began hitting the three male victims with a steel baseball bat while the other suspects allegedly began punching and kicking the victims. Morales also allegedly followed a man and a woman inside a house and hit them with the bat.Police said one alleged victim said the assailants got back in their cars and sped off after somebody yelled something about calling the police.Police reported all of the alleged victims had minor injuries. One of the alleged victims identified Morales as the man with the bat and said Morales was the father of his ex-girlfriend. The alleged victim said he has been receiving threatening text messages and phone calls from a man since the couple broke up, and the former couple had an upcoming court date, police reported.A neighbor corroborated the alleged victims’ accounts of the incident, and police traced the cars to Morales and his daughter, according to court documents. Police also reported finding a hammer at the scene that a witness said belonged to one of the alleged assailants.Essex Assistant District Attorney Brendan Kelley requested Morales be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing and that the defendant’s bail on a prior case be revoked.A public defender requested a continuance for the hearing so the office could prepare.Judge Ellen Flatley ordered Morales held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Sept. 30. She said the bail revocation could be argued at that time.Lynn Police Spokesman Lt. Richard Donnelly said police have not arrested any other individuals connected with the alleged incident.