Arrest made in series of nighttime attacks in Boston suburb

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) - A man has been charged in a series of nighttime attacks on men in a Boston suburb last November that left the entire community on edge, authorities announced Thursday.

Clauvens Janvier faces charges in 11 attacks in Waltham, including several counts of assault and battery, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and acting Police Chief Kevin O’Connell said at a news conference.

“I truly understood the anxiety and the frustration of our citizens of Waltham when this case had few leads at the start and continued to go on for some time,” OConnell said. “There was no doubt in my mind the person or persons involved would be brought to justice.”

Janvier, a 24-year-old Waltham resident, has been in custody since Dec. 11, when he was charged in a Nov. 11 assault on an 18-year-old man in a parking garage. The victim in that case was struck with the dull side of a machete.

After a law enforcement review of cellphone records and surveillance video, as well as several searches and interviews with victims and witnesses, Janvier was charged in the other 10 attacks.

He has also been charged with shooting at a car leaving a gas station on Nov. 24 following an argument with the driver, authorities said. In all, he faces 24 charges.

Following his initial arrest, Janvier was found to be a danger to society at a Dec. 21 hearing and has been held without bail since.

A voicemail was left Thursday with Janvier’s court-appointed attorney. It is unclear when he will be arraigned on the new charges.

The victims, who were all on foot, were ambushed from behind and struck on the head with a blunt object, but the motive behind them remains unclear, Ryan said.

“No one was robbed,” Ryan said. “There does not appear to be, at this point in the investigation, any particular connection either between the victim and the defendant or the victims to each other,” she said.

The men, including a postal worker, were also of varying ages and ethnic backgrounds. Some required hospitalization and treatment for head and facial injuries.

They are relieved by the arrest, Ryan said.

The suspect also apparently used more than one object during the assaults, she said.