Two men arrested after altercation on Waltham Common

Two men were arrested and charged after an alleged altercation on Waltham Common.

On Oct. 21 at 5:32 p.m., an officer observing Waltham Common from his cruiser was approached by a man who said he worked at City Hall. According to the police report, the man told the officer there were two men “beating the s*** out of each other” in front of City Hall. The officer found the two men, who he knew and identified as Emmanuel Sewaguma, 35, of Waltham and Mohamed Sameh S. Elsayed, 45, of Cambridge. As the officer was running each of the men through the Criminal Justice Information System, the two began to fight again.

According to the police report, the officer observed Sewaguma punch Elsayed in the abdomen. Elsayed then lifted his right hand in the air, in which the officer alleges he was holding a long, thin metallic object. The officer commanded them to stop, and they separated. 

Elsayed alleged that Sewaguma suckerpunched him in the jaw and accused him of stealing his phone, and said the metal object was a packer for his pipe. After searching Elsayed, the officer concluded he had not stolen Sewaguma’s phone. According to the police report, the officer was unable to understand Sewaguma because his speech was slurred, which he suspected was due to alcohol intoxication.

Both Sewaguma and Elsayed were arrested. Sewaguma was charged with assault and battery and Elsayed was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. Sewaguma pleaded not guilty on Oct. 22 to one count of assault and battery and Elsayed pleaded not guilty on Oct. 22 to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Both were released on personal recognizance by Judge Ellen M. Caulo. Both Sewaguma Elsayed will face pretrial hearings for their respective cases on Dec. 17.

Additional court activity

Jorges L. Caceres, 54, homeless, of Waltham, pleaded not guilty on Oct. 26 to one count of disorderly conduct subsequent offense, one count of indecent exposure and one miscellaneous municipal ordinance or bylaw violation misdemeanor. The charges were in relation to an alleged event on Waltham Common. Caceres was released on personal recognizance by Judge Sarah Kennedy and will face a pretrial hearing for his case on Dec. 16.

Rachel E. Devine, 39, of Marlborough, pleaded not guilty on Oct. 26 to one count of larceny under $1,200. The charges stem from an alleged event in June near Waltham Common. Devine was released on personal recognizance and will face a hearing to review status on her case on Nov. 3.

Angel J. Prats Diaz, 29, homeless, of Waltham, pleaded not guilty on Oct. 26 to one count of trafficking cocaine in an amount of 18 grams or more but less than 36 grams, one count of possession to distribute a class C drug and one count of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. The charges are in relation to alleged drug activity investigated by the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force. Prats Diaz is being held at Middlesex Jail in lieu of posting bail and will face a probable cause hearing for his case on Nov. 24.

Nicholas Spagnola, 38, of Holyoke, pleaded not guilty on Oct. 26 to one count of violating a harassment prevention order. The charge stems from a series of alleged harassment via texts and emails to a Waltham resident. Spagnola was released on personal recognizance by Kennedy and will face a hearing to review status for his case on Dec. 2.

Faizal Ssenyonga, 41, of Tewksbury, pleaded not guilty on Oct. 26 to one marked lanes violation misdemeanor and one count of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. The charges stem from an alleged event on Main Street. Ssenyonga was released on personal recognizance by Kennedy and will face a pretrial hearing for his case on Dec. 2.

Evwin Teo-Grijalva, 23, of Lowell, had multiple charges against him dismissed and one charge against him continued without finding on Oct. 22. The charges stemmed from an alleged event at Extra Space Storage on River Street in April. The charges of carrying a firearm without a license, possessing ammunition without an FID card, receiving an untraceable firearm and receiving stolen property were dismissed. There is no further information about why they were dismissed available via MassCourts. 

The final charge in the case, possession to distribute a class D drug, was continued without finding. When charges are continued without a finding, this means the commonwealth does not have enough evidence to convict the accused of the charges and will dismiss the charges at the end of a determined probationary period if all terms of probation are followed. Teo-Grijalva will be on probation until Oct. 22, 2029.

All information for this story was gathered from court proceedings and official court documents at Waltham District Court and case information from masscourts.org.