Cape man accused of beating New Yorker pleads not guilty

By Maddie Hanna, Globe Correspondent

A Falmouth man accused of using a bat to beat a man who he allegedly thought was a New York Yankees fan pleaded not guilty at his arraignment today in Falmouth District Court.

Robert Correia faces charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious destruction of a motor vehicle. He will be held without bail until a dangerousness hearing, which is scheduled for Wednesday, according to a district court clerk.

On Friday, the 20-year-old allegedly attacked a New York man who was driving with his family after a Fourth of July fireworks display in Falmouth. Police said Correia and several other young people began yelling when they saw the New York plates on the victim's car. Police said the group assumed the man and his family were Yankees fans. The Red Sox had beaten the Yankees that afternoon in the Bronx.

Falmouth lawyer Robert Nolan, who represents Correia, said that other residents had started the argument, and that his client was not present when it began.

"He had nothing to do that with that whatsoever," Nolan said by phone.

Correia learned of the argument because it happened outside his apartment on Worcester Court, Nolan said. He said Correia picked up a bat, went outside, and found a group of people "arguing, fighting, pushing, and shoving," with the man from New York at the center.

Nolan said that Correia, in an attempt to break up the fight, told the man, "Why don't you just get in your car and get out of here?"

The man turned on Correia, who swung the bat and hit him in the arm, Nolan said.

Prosecutors may file charges against others involved in the alleged attack, said Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe.

O'Keefe said he could not confirm the name of the victim. The New York Post reported that the victim was William Nestor, a 29-year-old from Northport, N.Y. The Globe has been unable to reach Nestor.

Nestor told the Post: "They were yelling, 'Yankees! Yankees!' When they saw the plates, they came at me."

A Falmouth police report said that after Nestor confronted the group of men, Correia went into his nearby apartment and got an aluminum baseball bat, then struck Nestor three times.

Nestor's father, Bill, told the Post that when his son stepped out of the car to face the group, one of the men hit him with the bat. Bill Nestor said he eventually was able to grab the bat from the man after his son was struck several times.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.

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