Salisbury gang leader wanted in stabbing
HAVERHILL — He served prison time for assault and battery and now the suspected former leader of a Salisbury-based wannabe-gang called "Crimesquad 4 Life 3:19" is back behind bars.
Paris Cormier, 24, of Market Street, Amesbury, was arrested Monday night, along with Reginald Cummings, 23, of 46 Spofford St., Newburyport, after a man they were with attacked another man with a knife.
Police said the men left the scene in a Chrysler 300. Area police were alerted and a short time later Cormier and Cummings were stopped in Amesbury. Police are now searching for the alleged attacker, Anthony Torres, 25, of Amesbury, and have issued a warrant for his arrest.
Cormier is well known to Salisbury police and has served time for multiple assault and battery convictions there.
At 7:30 p.m. Monday, police were called to 74 Bellevue Ave. for a report of a stabbing. When officers arrived, they found the victim, Israel Santiago, 28, who had suffered a stab wound to his stomach and a laceration to his left shoulder.
According to court documents, Santiago was in his garage with the door open when the Chrysler stopped in front of the house.
Police said the men are known to Santiago's girlfriend, Dara Vosburgh, who formerly dated Torres.
The report said Torres got out of the car, pulled out a folding knife, and then chased Santiago around the garage, lunging at him with the knife.
Vosburgh told police that during the attack, her ex-boyfriend, Torres, swung a two-wheeled dolly at Santiago, striking him.
Police Deputy Chief Donald Thompson said Cummings and Cormier were egging Torres on.
The victim was taken by ambulance to Merrimack Valley Hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Police interviewed him there.
Cummings and Cormier were arraigned in Haverhill District Court yesterday on charges of assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
They were ordered held without bail at the Middleton House of Correction until a hearing on Aug. 18, where it will be decided if they are a danger to society and should continue to be held.
Police plan to bring the same felony charges against Torres.
"They are known to each other and it revolved around some domestic issues," Thompson said about the attack.
In December 2006, Cormier was sentenced in Newburyport District Court. He served two years for crimes stemming from his role in the beatings of an 18-year-old Salisbury youth and a 20-year-old Amesbury man during a July 3 (2006) party at High Rock, a boulder that juts high above the Merrimack River, where youths often swim.
Cormier was released in February 2008 and one month later he was wanted by police. Cormier had been identified as an attacker in a March 17 assault on Atlantic Avenue in Salisbury, in which he punched a man in the face and kicked out one of his teeth.
In April 2008, Cormier was found guilty of violating his probation and was ordered to serve two, two-and-a-half-year sentences for two charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
