By Julie Manganis
SALEM — Three men, including a convicted killer and another who was recently cleared of home invasion charges, are being held on $100,000 cash bail each, charged with forcing their way into a Boston Street apartment to rob a man.
Pedro Alix, 45, of 92 Congress St., Salem; Christopher Hassapis, 40, of 286 Washington St., Salem; and Carlos Vieira, 31, of 2 Esquire Circle, Peabody, are charged with home invasion, armed robbery, assault and battery, and assault with a dangerous weapon following an incident on Tuesday evening.
The victim, who lives in an apartment at 22 Boston St., told police that he was standing outside counting his rent money, $450 in cash, around 7 p.m. when a green car pulled up and three men rushed him, Salem police Lt. Conrad Prosniewski told a judge during the trio's arraignment.
The men followed him as he ran up to his apartment and robbed him at gunpoint, police said.
Police Patrolman Gilbert Priddy found the victim outside, holding a cloth to his bruised and bleeding face, with two kitchen knives in his pockets, police said.
Meanwhile, Patrolman Robert Phelan got a description of the car and the men from a man who was leaving a nearby liquor store. He noticed that they had dropped the gun, which he suspected was fake because of the sound it made when it hit the ground.
Two other patrolmen, Kristian Hanson and Kevin St. Pierre, had seen a green Cadillac in Salem a little earlier, with Hassapis, the owner, at the wheel and Alix in the passenger seat.
Salem police went to an apartment at 11 Harbor St., where the men were known to hang out. A woman who let Capt. Paul Tucker, Sgt. Richard Gagnon, and Detectives Tom Brennan and Jack Doyle into the apartment said the three men had shown up "excited and nervous" with a bag of crack, which they had been smoking when the officers showed up but flushed it down the toilet before answering the door. Hassapis and Alix were found in the apartment; Vieira was found hiding in the bathtub.
Police found the replica gun believed used in the incident in the basement.
The victim was brought to look at the three, but he told police that he didn't recognize them. He did identify the gun and the Cadillac, police said.
Vieira had been facing charges in another home invasion last February, but those were recently dropped by prosecutors.
Alix has a lengthy record, including a 1986 manslaughter conviction stemming from a stabbing in Salem.
The three men are due back in court on July 15.
