New Bedford Man Convicted of Assaulting Disabled Senior

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A New Bedford man who assaulted a 72-year-old disabled man was convicted by a jury and sentenced to spend three to five years in state prison.

According to Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn, Derrick Blakney, 34, was convicted Wednesday of assault and battery on a person over the age of 60 causing serious bodily injury.

The charge relates to a reported assault in an Ash Street home in New Bedford on May 20, 2021. According to the D.A., Blakney knocked on the victim’s door at around 9:30 p.m. that night and asked to see a person named Lupe. He was told by the victim’s wife that there was nobody there by that name, and then told her husband that Blakney was still standing on the porch.

The victim exited the home and asked Blakney why he was still there, and whether he could help him.

The victim was shoved off the porch by Blakney, landing on his right knee and rendering him unable to get up. Blakney then kicked him multiple times until the man’s adult son pulled Blakney off of his father. Several neighbors helped the son restrain Blakney until police arrived.

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Blakney was on probation at the time related to an incident of shots fired in New Bedford.

The victim suffered a broken nose, a broken maxillary bone in his face, a laceration, a chip fracture in his femur, bleeding and swelling to his face.

“This was an unprovoked, senseless and brutal assault on a 72-year-old man. The only explanation is that the defendant is prone to violence based on previously being convicted of a shooting,” D.A. Quinn said. “The victim was seriously injured, and the defendant is clearly a danger to the community. He needed to be kept off the street to protect the public.”