Parking lot beating suspect eyes release on GPS today

Jordan Lamonde (Rochester Police photo)

DOVER - The suspect in last month's Planet Fitness parking lot beating believed the victim's boyfriend had stolen $30,000 from him, according to a police affidavit filed in the case.

The startling revelation came to light on a day that saw accused beater Jordan Lamonde, 22, of Portsmouth, waive his Tuesday arraignment and later a gaggle of TV and print reporters chase the beating victim across the courthouse parking lot after she got testy when reporters peppered her with questions as she headed to her car.

It was only the latest bizarre twist in a case that has riveted the city of Rochester since a partial video of the beating was released by police about 10 days after the June 12 attack.

Lamonde, who was initially held on $150,000 cash bail, was to be freed this morning after the court agreed to have his bail converted to personal recognizance.

Lamonde was arrested on Monday at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, but officials continued to decline why he was there citing privacy concerns.

Meanwhile, the affidavit details a dogged investigation by Rochester Police, who first responded to the beating scene after learning of an assault in the parking lot outside the North Main Street gym around 10 p.m.

Erin McCarthy, who has identified herself as the victim on social media and with the press, told police that night she did not know her assailant and that he had punched her numerous times in the head, thrown her to the ground and kneed her in the head, the affidavit states.

Police received their first credible tip June 21 when a woman told detectives she used to be friends with the suspect and was positive he was the man in the video that police released the day before.
The woman told police that Lamonde drove a Ford Fusion that matched the description of the attacker's car, and that several months before the attack he complained that a man had stolen $30,000 from him.
Later during the investigation, a man who had been dating McCarthy told police that Lamonde had accused him of stealing a safe with thousands of dollars in it. Prior to this, Lamonde had been his friend, he said.
Detectives then contacted Lamonde, who denied having been in Rochester at the time of the attack.
Police later learned that Lamonde's grandmother had a Ford Fusion registered in her name matching the one at the scene, and that Lamonde lived with his grandparents.
As part of his bail release conditions, he can have no contact with McCarthy and must wear a GPS.
McCarthy, who came to the arraignment to face her attacker and was clearly frustrated he was to be set free on personal recognizance, got testy with reporters as she left the courthouse in the glare of several TV news cameras from New England stations.

Several cameramen chased her halfway across the parking lot before stopping.

She complained on Facebook earlier this week that reporters were harassing her at her house.