Prosecutors drop charges against one accused in Clarkson Street triple shooting

WORCESTER — Prosecutors have dropped charges against one of four men charged in April’s triple shooting on Clarkson Street , and indicted the others.

Levon Atupem of Holden saw all charges against him dropped, court records show, while three others — Joshua Pittman, Carter Webster and Jordany Alejo — have been indicted into Worcester Superior Court.

The four men were charged in Central District Court in April after authorities said two men got out of a car carrying four people and opened fire down Clarkson Street, striking three teens.

One 17-year-old boy was seriously injured — his family wrote online that he was paralyzed from the waist down — while his sister and another teenage girl, both 18, were each struck in the leg.

Prosecutors have said in court that the victims did not appear to have any connection to the shooters, and family members of the victims have said the same.

Pittman and Webster, the alleged shooters, as well as Alejo, the alleged driver, have all been indicted into Worcester Superior Court.

The charges against Atupem, who prosecutors previously stated was in the car, were dropped without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled at a later time, court records show.

In a motion requesting the dismissal, Assistant District Attorney Joseph A. Simmons wrote that the state “would not be able to prove this matter beyond a reasonable doubt at this time based on the current evidence available.”

Court records show Atupem was initially held without bail as a dangerous person following his arrest and arraignment in Central District Court.

A judge in ordering him to be held noted in court papers that Atupem, while not having any convictions, has an open firearms case out of North Carolina and has alleged to be affiliated with gangs by police.

Atupem had been charged with three counts of armed assault to murder, being an accessory before the fact and being an accessory after the fact in the Clarkson Street shooting.

Police had alleged in court documents that Atupem had been involved in a discussion to locate victims, among other allegations.

Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.’s office, which has a practice of not commenting on open cases, declined to comment Friday.

A lawyer for Atupem, Richard Farrell, declined to comment on the case, other than disputing the allegation of Atupem being affiliated with a gang.

Pittman and Webster were each arraigned in Worcester Superior Court July 11 on more than a dozen charges, including four counts each of armed assault to murder.

Both men were ordered held without bail for up to 180 days after a judge approved a request from prosecutors under the state’s dangerousness statute.

Alejo was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court July 12 on single counts of armed assault to murder and accessory after the fact, records show.

He was released on the same $2,000 bail he had posted earlier in Central District Court, with conditions including he wear a tracking device and not contact co-defendants or witnesses.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Prosecutors drop charges against one accused in Clarkson Street triple shooting