Three men charged after vicious beating in Barre
Toolbox
By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: November 11, 2009
BARRE – Police have arrested three Washington County men in the last week for several violent attacks over the previous five months in Barre, including a vicious beating last summer that left a Barre man with what a doctor called a "severe brain injury."
Sean Clark, 39, of Barre was arrested on Friday for his alleged role in the beating of 27-year-old Sean Sedor early in the morning on July 11outside the bar and restaurant El Sol on North Main Street.
Police also arrested 22-year-old Aston Hall for the same assault. Hall allegedly kicked Sedor's head after Sedor had fallen to the sidewalk.
Hall and Clark were arraigned on Monday and pleaded innocent to felony charges of aggravated assault.
A judge imposed $25,000 bail for Clark, who was still jailed Tuesday at the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility, according to the Department of Corrections.
Hall, who was already on probation for a separate assault conviction, was held without the option of posting bail for allegedly violating his probation.
Clark also was charged on Monday with other crimes based on separate incidents that have occurred over the last few months, including a second aggravated assault; simple assault; and unlawful restraint.
Barre City police officers interviewed several witnesses as they investigated the assault on Sedor.
Sedor and a friend, John May – who were both intoxicated — got into a confrontation with a man named Lonnie Murray outside of El Sol, several witnesses told police.
Witnesses' statements vary slightly about what exactly happened, but several witnesses said that May and Sedor approached a group of people that included Murray. Words were exchanged, shoving ensued and Murray punched either May or Sedor, witnesses said.
That's when Hall and Clark came out of the bar and attacked Sedor, witnesses told police.
Clark allegedly punched Sedor a number of times in the face, which he admitted to, according to court documents.
Witnesses said Hall kicked Sedor in the head after he fell to the ground, and Hall claimed that was his "trademark," according to one person police interviewed.
May suffered a broken nose in the melee, according to court documents.
Sedor was taken to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington where a doctor said he suffered a severe brain injury.
His skull was fractured in more than one place and he had blood clots in his brain, court records say.
Sedor required surgery and had a part of his skull removed to relieve swelling in his brain, according to the police report.
Sedor, reached by telephone on Tuesday, said he recently returned to work, and had spent weeks in the hospital and a rehabilitation center after the assault.
Months after the assault he still suffers from "massive headaches" and sometimes has trouble with his thinking, Sedor said.
"I forget some words sometimes," he said. "I know what I want to say, but I don't know how to say it."
Sedor said he was drinking heavily that night and doesn't remember what happened.
"I actually went out to four different bars and I had drank a lot so I have no recollection whatsoever," he said.
He has tried to piece together what happened that night by talking to May. Sedor has been told he was not the aggressor in the situation, as some people have claimed.
One witness, Christopher Collins, told police that Sedor and May did not try to punch Murray, "were not aggressive" and "…were too intoxicated to protect themselves." But Collins did say that Sedor pushed Murray.
Whatever happened, including the alcohol involved, the beating was not justified, said Sedor.
"Of course alcohol had a factor but it was no reason for them basically to try to beat me to death," he said.
Sedor said he didn't know Hall or Clark but plans to attend if the cases are tried in court. "I'm going to go to their trials, because I don't know that they've seen what they've actually done to me," said Sedor. "I'm going to let them see."
Clark's second aggravated assault charge stems from an incident last month when Clark and another assailant allegedly beat up a 20-year-old Barre man on Summer Street. Clark's co-defendant in that case, Christopher Elmer, 24, of Northfield also was arrested last Friday and pleaded innocent to aggravated assault. Elmer was released after posting a $10,000 bond, according to court documents.
40