Waltham man arrested for alleged attack resulting in severe eye injury

A Waltham man was arrested for an alleged attack that put another man in the hospital with severe eye injuries.

On Aug. 31 at 11:52 p.m., a man and a woman came into the Waltham Police Department, each with eye injuries. While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, the officer on duty spoke to the man, who said the pair had just returned to the ReNew apartment complex after shopping at 7-Eleven on Lexington Street.

As they were sitting in the car, two men wearing ski masks approached the vehicle. One of the men smashed the front passenger window and the front right corner of the windshield with what appeared to be an expandable baton. Glass from the windows struck both of them in the eyes. The man identified one of the parties as Jesus Monroy Calzada, 24, of Waltham. 

The man alleged that Monroy Calzada is a drug dealer who was trying to get him to sell drugs for him and that he believed previous social media comments he had made “exposing” Monroy Calzada may have been the reason for the attack. Both the man and the woman were taken to the hospital for treatment.

On Sept. 2, the woman called WPD and said the man had been injured more severely than previously believed. He received cornea surgery and may receive retina surgery in the future. Over multiple calls that day, both the man and the woman again identified Monroy Calzada as one of the perpetrators in the alleged attack based on physical features they observed despite the ski mask.

Monroy Calzada pleaded not guilty on Sept. 8 to one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and serious bodily injury, one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and one count of malicious damage to a motor vehicle. He was able to post bail. Monroy Calzada will face a pretrial hearing for his case on Oct. 6.

Additional court activity

Benjamin Bawa, 40, of Lowell, had a case against him dismissed on Sept. 8. Bawa pleaded not guilty in March to possession of a class A drug. The charge against him was dismissed due to lack of prosecution, meaning that the commonwealth was not equipped to prosecute the case and decided to dismiss it.

Errol D. Moses Jr., 35, of Framingham, was arraigned on Sept. 4 for assault and battery with serious bodily injury and assault and battery on a family or household member subsequent offense. It is unclear based on the information provided on MassCourts whether or not he pleaded guilty. He was ordered to be held at Middlesex Jail on reason of dangerousness by Judge Ellen M. Caulo. Moses Jr. will face a pretrial hearing for his case on Oct. 1.

Shazia Qureshi, 39, of Waltham, had a case against her dismissed on Sept. 2. She pleaded not guilty in May to two counts of assault and battery on a family or household member. The charges against her were dismissed due to lack of prosecution, meaning that the commonwealth was not equipped to prosecute the case and decided to dismiss it.