A Massachusetts man was charged with murder after he allegedly struck a pedestrian with his SUV and then hit him with a brick.
In a release posted to X (formerly known as Twitter), the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said Vasco Semedo, 45, was arrested Saturday, April 6 and is scheduled to be arraigned on a murder charge after he struck and killed Stuart Smith, 50.
Shortly before 9 a.m. local time, Brockton Police were dispatched to 65 North Main Street after receiving calls about a motor vehicle versus pedestrian crash, District Attorney Timothy Cruz said.
The D.A. added that upon arriving at the scene, the police found an unresponsive victim — later identified as Stuart — who was then transported to Good Samaritan Hospital before being medflighted to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
Semedo, who was allegedly driving a Toyota RAV4 that was used to hit Stuart, was arrested on scene after police reviewed surveillance footage of the scene and saw that Semedo hit Smith, backed up, drove into the victim again, before exiting the vehicle repeatedly striking Smith with a brick, the D.A. alleged.
According to NBC affiliate WBTS-CD, Semedo was initially charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. However, after Smith died, his charge was upgraded to murder.
The authorities did not say if Semedo and Smith knew each other or if there was a possible motive, the outlet reported.
Per the D.A., Semedo is scheduled to appear in Brockton District Court on Monday. It is not immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney. The prosecutor added that an investigation is ongoing, at this time.
