A summer afternoon at a Massachusetts lake turned into a near-fatal attack when a 70-year-old man allegedly tried to drown a 21-year-old — a young man who couldn’t even fight back because both his arms and one leg were broken.
Steven Dana, 70, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, now faces attempted murder charges, along with two counts of strangulation or suffocation and assault and battery on a disabled person. Investigators say none of it would have come to light so quickly if it weren’t for one friend with a phone.
It started over a boat ramp.
Dana confronted the 21-year-old, identified as Duffy, and his friends, claiming they had no right to use the town’s boat ramp because they weren’t Hopkinton residents. The group had been jet skiing in the area when Dana approached them. His warning was short and direct — “It’s time to go.”
But words weren’t enough for Dana. Police say he came charging down a hill, slapped Duffy across the face, then tackled him to the ground and forcefully held his head underwater. Duffy was on crutches at the time, still recovering from a motorcycle crash that had left him with multiple broken bones.
“I couldn’t use either of my arms or my leg as they were both broken. I was just praying that he let go or my friends pull him off of me.” — Duffy, the victim
Duffy’s friends pulled Dana off before the situation became a homicide. One of them, Benjamin Osmanovic, had been recording the entire confrontation on his phone. When Hopkinton police officers arrived on the scene, they reviewed the footage on the spot — and Dana was placed under arrest immediately.
As of Thursday, Dana remained in custody without bail at the Hopkinton Police Department and was scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Friday.
What This Means: With video evidence already in police hands and charges as serious as attempted murder, Dana faces a steep legal battle ahead. His next court date has not yet been set, but prosecutors now have everything they need on camera.
A young man just wanted to spend a summer day on the water. He came home lucky to be alive — and the man who tried to kill him over a boat ramp rule is spending the night in a jail cell.
