Press Release  Four Individuals Charged in Connection With Violent Assault at Encore Casino

WOBURN — Four individuals have been indicted in connection with a violent assault in an elevator at Encore Boston Harbor, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.

Matthew Haley, 27, of Cambridge, and Jose Mercado, 32, of Boston, were indicted today by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on one count each of Assault and Battery by Means of a Dangerous Weapon (shod foot). Haley was also indicted on one count of Assault and Battery. An Encore employee, Brittany Dawson, 24, of Stoneham was indicted along with Leilani Reyes, 20, of Somerville, on one count each of Impeding a Gaming Investigation. Dawson was also indicted on one count of Acting as an Accessory After the Fact.

The defendants will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.

According to an investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Gaming Enforcement Unit at Encore Boston Harbor, video surveillance from the casino allegedly revealed that on the morning of October 23, Haley punched a man in the face, causing him to fall to the floor of an elevator. Haley then allegedly repeatedly kicked and stomped on the man’s head and body, with Mercado joining in on the assault. Reyes allegedly watched, while Dawson held the door to the parking garage from the elevator bay open for the men to escape and then drove them away from the casino. The victim and the defendants were allegedly strangers.

All of these charges are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

AG Healey’s Gaming Enforcement Division has a dedicated group of prosecutors and investigators who enforce the state’s Expanded Gaming Act of 2011 and investigate and prosecute illegal activity, such as gaming-related financial crime, organized crime, corruption and money laundering, including the majority of criminal activity occurring at the state’s casinos.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Kristyn Dusel Kelly, of AG Healey’s Gaming Enforcement Division, with assistance from Victim Witness Advocate Lia Panetta, of AG Healey’s Victim/Witness Services Division. The case was investigated by the Massachusetts State Police Gaming Enforcement Unit at Encore Boston Harbor with assistance from the AG’s Gaming Enforcement Division, the Everett and Somerville Police Departments, and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

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