By Julie Manganis
SALEM — A Superior Court judge yesterday refused to reduce the bail of a Peabody man charged with smashing through the window of a Salem home and then scuffling with the terrified residents early one morning last month.
Shortly after the hearing, a grand jury in another courtroom indicted Carlos Vieira, 31, on charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony while putting a person in fear, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of assault and battery.
Vieira had hoped to convince Judge John Lu that the $25,000 cash bail set following his arraignment in the Feb. 23 incident on Rawlins Street was too high and should be reduced.
But prosecutor James Gubitose, who yesterday obtained an indictment against Vieira, argued that there's no reason to reduce Vieira's bail, pointing not only to the terror he caused inside the home of the Turner family that morning but Vieira's record.
Deanna Turner was having a cup of coffee in her living room around 5 a.m. on that morning when she heard noises from her dining room and found Vieira screaming on the floor, she said.
Vieira then ran through their small home, damaging several items, she said, and tried to go upstairs before he was tackled and held down by Wayne Turner, as their daughter called 911.
"It seems to be that every time this defendant has been convicted of something and has been on probation, he has failed," Gubitose said. "This defendant does not follow the rules of the court."
Defense lawyer Rebecca Whitehill argued that Vieira meant no harm to the family when he smashed his way inside through a window. She said Vieira "has had some difficulty with some drug dealers in this area, and on occasion he runs into people associated with those drug dealers and they have attempted to do him harm," Whitehill said. On the morning he ended up inside the Turner home, "he was attempting to escape," having encountered his enemies at a home nearby.
Vieira is expected to be back in front of Lu within the next couple of weeks to be arraigned on the indictments.
