A Boston man with a criminal history was charged in connection with a machete attack in May that left another man injured, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office.
Charles Selph, 62, was arraigned on May 28 and charged with one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, Hayden’s office said in a statement released on Thursday.
Boston Municipal Court Central Division Judge James Coffey ordered Selph to be held on $1,000 bail and ordered him to stay away from the victim and the area where the incident happened, Hayden’s office said.
Selph is scheduled to return to court on June 21 for a pre-trial hearing.
At around 10:15 p.m. on May 23, Massachusetts State Police troopers arrived at the area of Storrow Drive under the Longfellow Bridge regarding a call for a person covered in blood, Hayden’s office said. Troopers found a man, 54, bleeding from several lacerations on top of his head and he told them he was attacked while he slept under the bridge. He ran onto Storrow Drive, where commuters stopped to help him.
The man gave troopers a description of who attacked him, Hayden’s office said. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital to be treated.
Troopers were given one driver’s cell phone video that showed the man pointing to another man, holding a long object in his hand, under Longfellow Bridge, Hayden’s office said. Troopers also looked at a video from the Charles/MGH Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority station that showed a man in similar clothes also holding a long, metal object just before the time of the attack.
After troopers canvassed the area, they found a machete in a grassy area near the Longfellow Bridge that matched the object seen in the video, along with a black backpack that had a hospital bracelet and a prescription medication bottle both featuring Selph’s name.
Found in Boston, troopers arrested Selph on May 27.
Selph has a long criminal history and history of guilty convictions in Massachusetts, Hayden’s office said. This included charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a police officer, failure to register as a sex offender, sexual assault and rape. Selph was sentenced to nine months in prison last May for assault and battery.
“I am extremely grateful for the motorists who stopped and helped this victim, and for the victim’s assistance in giving troopers a solid description of his attacker,” Hayden said in the statement. “This assistance, along with surveillance video and excellent investigative work, led to a quick arrest in this brutal attack.”
