Prosecutor: Rape Suspect Hit Woman 14 Times With Rock | Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Monday, Nov. 29. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• A fire in a triple-decker early Monday morning in Worcester left about nine people without homes, and may have been intentionally set.
• A man arrested in Eastham who assaulted an officer was found with bomb-making materials, according to police.
• A 23-year-old Marlborough man was arrested and charged over the weekend after he pulled a gun on employees at a Worcester bar who refused to let him inside.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

A Medford man was arraigned Monday on charges related to a rape in the Middlesex Fells Reservation late last week.

Prosecutors said Brady McCue, 28, beat the victim with a rock 14 times before sexually assaulting her. The victim, a 48-year-old woman, was walking near the Leslie Road Trail Head at the Medford/Winchester line when she was attacked around 8 a.m. Friday.

The woman told investigators her attacker had a coffee cup with him, which was found nearby and helped police link the assault to McCue, prosecutors said. She was hospitalized with serious injuries, but is in stable condition.

An attorney for McCue said his client has schizophrenia and stopped taking his medication Nov. 23

Read the full story.

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Monday's Other Top Stories

Arson investigation in Worcester: A fire in a triple-decker early Monday morning in Worcester left about nine people without homes, and may have been intentionally set. The fire broke out just after midnight Monday on the top floor of a Moen Street home. Worcester police were at the scene after a woman called for help with her son, who was experiencing a crisis. The man went into the home and set the fire, and then began helping to rescue his pets from the triple-decker. He was arrested and taken to a hospital.

Man pulls gun on bar staff: A 23-year-old Marlborough man was arrested and charged over the weekend after he pulled a gun on employees at a Worcester bar who refused to let him inside, according to police. The incident happened near 1:30 a.m. Sunday at the Funky Murphys bar and restaurant along Shrewsbury Street. Worcester police said Daniel Mercado was trying to get into the bar near closing time. When staff told him he had to leave, he pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot them, police said. Worcester police later found Mercado driving along Shrewsbury Street. A gun fell out of his pants while he was being searched.

Police find bomb-making supplies on Cape: A man arrested in Eastham who assaulted an officer was found with bomb-making materials, according to police. Eastham police said the arrested happened just before 1 p.m., Saturday. An officer tried to serve a trespass notice to Dorian Firth in the area of Town Center Plaza. Police said Firth fought police and assaulted an officer when they tried to arrest him, so they used pepper spray to subdue him. After bringing Firth to the station for booking, police said they searched Firth's backpack and found a powdery substance, wires and other items used to make a bomb.

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In Case You Missed It

Coronavirus cases reach 10-month high: New coronavirus cases hit highs not seen since Feb., when the state's biggest wave was subsiding, according to the latest data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Over three-quarters of Massachusetts communities reported rising positive test rates over the last two weeks, according to town-by-town data released Friday. Just 12 Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, down three the last report. The Department of Public Health reported 5,058 new coronavirus cases, 24 deaths and 63,306 vaccine doses administered across two days Friday.

Also on Patch: 'Three Big Questions' About Omicron Variant

By The Numbers

77,365: The number of people who passed through New England's six largest airports on Sunday, the busiest day for New England airports since the start of the pandemic, according to TSA spokesperson Dan Velez.