Cape Cod sees uptick in violence, despite overall decrease in crime during pandemic

Crime on Cape Cod has decreased during the pandemic, but violence has flared up recently, cases show.

On Monday night, Barnstable Police found a 26-year-old man with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his lower torso. As of Tuesday afternoon, a suspect had not been arrested.

On Saturday, a woman was repeatedly stabbed by a man at a Marstons Mills home. Michael Harrington, 34, of Marstons Mills was later arrested and on Monday pleaded not guilty to assault with intent to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, violation of a protection order and assault and battery on a family or household member. The woman survived.

And from Dec. 18, 2020, to April 30 alone, four women with Mashpee connections had been killed — three by their partners and one by her son.

“Those are obviously serious cases, but on the whole violent crime and crime, in general, is down,” Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said. “One of the big factors involved in crime is alcohol and drugs, And the bars were closed” temporarily.

Lysetta Hurge-Putnam, executive director of Independence House, a Hyannis-based advocacy group for domestic violence survivors, said that she hasn’t seen an increase in the number of cases, “but definitely, our clients are reporting more severe abuse.”

“Everybody went into lockdown, so survivors were trapped at home and didn’t have access to outside support,” she said. “That’s why I was still putting the word out that our services were still available.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/38w2NdU