August 3, 2007 Update:
Benjamin Blasi, 22, of 22 Cottonwood Ave. in Laconia, N.H., was given a fully suspended one-year prison sentence as well as $645 in fines after pleading guilty to charges of burglary, theft and criminal mischief. The charges stem from a June 2006 incident in which Blasi broke into the Center Lovell Market while walking away from a party. Brian Hawkins, Blasi's attorney, said Blasi only ate some beef jerky from the store and believed others at the party stole from the store after learning it had been broken into. (Lewiston Sun)

June 22, 2007 From the print edition of The Conway Daily Sun. Benjamin Blasi, 22, of 48 Portland Road, Bridgton, Maine is charged with criminal threatening, criminal mischief and reckless conduct, all class B felonies, and scheduled for a probable cause hearing at 1:15 p.m. on June 28. In Laconia on June 15th, Blasi fired a semi-automatic handgun at Charles Womack's face, hitting the passenger side window of the truck, then put another bullet into the tailgate as the victim fled. 4 casings were found during the investigation.

October 26, 2006 Update:
Benjamin Blasi, 21 of Brownfield, Maine has been arrested with a DNA match from the June 8th break in of the Center Lovell Market in Lovell, Maine. This follows the investigation by Deputy Joshua Wyman and Sergeant Timothy Ontengco.

From the Lovell Neighborhood Watch Incident Report Page: June 8, 2006 News
Break-in of local business: Center Lovell Market was broken into on the night of June 7th or the early morning hours of June 8th. A police investigation is in progress, but it is noteworthy to know that there was a cut of some kind suffered by the intruder as they broke a door window and left tracks of blood. If anyone sees someone bandaged on the hand or lower arm or just a fresh cut, please report them to the Oxford County Sheriff's Dept. Parents have you seen any signs that your child or child's friends may or may not have been where you thought they were? Thanks. The neighborhood watch at work! From: Tripp Turner and Carol Roberts.

VICTIM ARRESTED
November 6, 2006
News 13 WGME
A Maine man shot in a fight in Conway, NH during the summer has been charged with a Maine store burglary that happened a month earlier.
The Oxford County Sheriff's Department says it held off on arresting 21-year-old Benjamin Blasi after he was shot, in hopes he would help in the burglary investigation and lead them to others who were involved.
Investigators say Blasi (of Brownfield) has been linked to the burglary at the Center Lovell Market in June by DNA evidence. They say he cut himself on glass at the store.
A little over a month after the break-in, Blasi was involved in a fight on Main Street in Conway and shot in the abdomen.
(This story was picked up by the AP and copied over to many media sites.)

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Conway man faces trial next week in shooting of Maine man
May 16, 2007
OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) _ A Conway man accused of shooting a 21-year-old from Maine in the abdomen last summer will be tried next week, barring a last-minute deal with prosecutors.
Matthew Lewis, 26, faces a second-degree assault trial in Ossipee County Superior Court starting Monday.
Benjamin Blasi, of Brownfield, Maine, was found unconscious on his sister's front lawn by a passing state trooper early on the morning of July 15, 2006. He was seriously injured.
Police and prosecutors say that earlier, one of Lewis's friends, Eric Harris, said he was harassed and attacked by a group of people standing in front of the sister's home. Harris got away, told Lewis and two other people what had happened, and drove with them to the home of Blasi's sister, where an underage drinking party was in progress.
Lewis was charged with shooting Blasi in the melee that followed. Another friend of Harris, 22-year-old Matthew French, is charged with criminal threatening and faces a separate trial on May 28. Authorities say he pointed a handgun at another person; police later found loaded rifles, samurai swords, machetes and knives in his apartment.
The woman accused of driving the men to Blasi's sister's home Rachel West, 25, also faces charges of criminal liability for the conduct of another person.
Lewis has pleaded self-defense, saying Blasi rushed him and may have been armed. His defense attorney, Howard Clayman, has asked prosecutors to share photographs of brass knuckles and a large knife reportedly found 10 days later at a neighbor's house.
French's lawyer, Brad Helfer, has challenged statements by Harris, who initially told police Blasi's friends had threatened to break beer bottles over his head, but later changed his story. He has refused follow-up interviews with lawyers, he said.
Helfer also wants to interview two teenagers from Brownfield who were arrested for underage drinking that night.
Read --------------------------------------------------------- 3 charged in shooting
7/18/06
CONWAY (AP) -- A man shot in the abdomen was in fair condition in a Maine hospital Monday, an improvement from critical during the weekend.
Three Conway residents who "engaged in tumultuous and violent behavior" were charged in the shooting of Benjamin Blasi, 21, of Brownfield, Maine. Police said he was in critical condition after being shot Friday night or early Saturday during a fight.
Blasi was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland after a passing state trooper found him on a lawn on East Main Street outside his home about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
According to a police affidavit, officers caught up with Eric Harris, an acquaintance of the three people charged, who said he was "harassed and then assaulted" by several others who were standing outside Blasi's home. Harris got away, was approached by his friends and told them what had happened. Harris got into their car and the group headed back to Blasi's home to confront the people who had assaulted him.
Matthew Lewis, 25, the alleged shooter, turned himself in to police later Saturday morning. He was arraigned on charges of second-degree assault and starting a riot when he appeared Monday afternoon in Northern Carroll County District Court. Lewis told police that he always carries a concealed weapon and has a permit.
Two others were arrested at their homes: Rachael West, 25, and Matthew French, 21. West, who drove the car, is charged with criminal liability for the conduct of another and starting a riot. French, accused of pointing a handgun at one of the people at Blasi's home, is charged with criminal threatening with a firearm, reckless conduct and starting a riot.
Bail was set at $200,000 for Lewis and French, and $75,000 for West.
Read --------------------------------------------------------- Brownfield Man Wounded In New Hampshire Shooting
7/15/06
Police in Conway, New Hampshire, have three people in custody after a Maine man was shot and discovered by a passing state trooper on an East Main Street lawn Saturday morning.
Police say 21-year-old Benjamin Blasi, of Brownfield, Maine, was shot in the abdomen and discovered by a trooper around 1:30 a.m.
Blasi was airlifted to Maine Medical Center where he's in critical condition.
Police say the shooter, 25-year-old Matthew Lewis, turned himself in this morning.
Also arrested were two others, 25-year-old Rachael West and 21-year-old Mathew French.
All three are from Conway and are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday. Police are not saying what led to the shooting, except to say it occurred during a physical altercation.
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