LOWELL — A man accused of threatening people with scissors and shouting “suicide by cop” before being tased by police was ordered held without bail on Thursday following a 58A dangerousness hearing in Lowell District Court.
Seamus Carey, 29, of Worcester, was ordered to remain behind bars by Judge Mary Phillips — though any release would have been immediately overridden by a Department of Correction parole detainer stemming from a case in which he shot a man in the back during an armed robbery more than six years ago.
During Thursday’s hearing, Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Brittany Correia asked Phillips to hold Carey without bail, citing both his violent past and the allegations in the current case.
Carey is charged with assault and battery on a household member, strangulation or suffocation, intimidating a witness, vandalizing property, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and disorderly conduct.
Referencing a Lowell Police incident report, Correia said Carey punched his former romantic partner in the head and strangled her, then chased a family member of the woman with scissors.
When police arrived, Carey allegedly attempted to stab an officer.
“He locked himself in a cruiser and then the defendant also continues to yell ‘suicide by cop,’” Correia said.
When additional officers arrived, Carey fled, running down the street with scissors before being tased and taken into custody.
The hearing was split into two parts, before and after the lunch break. Carey spoke out multiple times during the first portion.
As proceedings began, Phillips told Carey — who stood shackled at the defense table — that he could take a seat. He responded, “I’d rather stand your honor.”
At one point, Correia referenced claims that Carey was affiliated with a street gang in Worcester. Carey interjected, “I’m going to cut you right there,” before a court officer leaned over and instructed him to be quiet.
Body camera footage was played for Phillips at the bench, with attorneys watching and Carey permitted to view it. The footage began with the victim describing to an officer the assault. Carey said he did not want to watch that portion of the footage and sat down at the defendant’s table.
Another segment showed officers tasing him, with Carey audibly howling in pain. Carey again approached the bench, asked the judge to back it up and restart it so he could rewatch the moment — a request Phillips denied.
Correia also noted that Carey previously served time for possession of cocaine. Carey turned to a court officer beside him and said it was for personal use.
Seven court officers were positioned around the courtroom during the hearing. Carey’s attorney, Philip Weber, sat at a separate table.
As the morning session ended, Carey expressed displeasure with Weber as his attorney and said he knew he would not be released anyway. He told Phillips he simply wanted to return to the Department of Correction, where he is being held on a parole detainer stemming from the new charges.
That parole detainer traces back to an earlier case outlined in the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester.
According to the report, Carey previously pleaded guilty to armed robbery and related charges after robbing a man on Main Street in Worcester and then shooting him in the back as the victim ran away on May 20, 2020.
The victim, who was 39 at the time, was hospitalized for three weeks with a collapsed lung and nerve damage that left him unable to move multiple fingers.
Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Carey being handed a firearm by another man before robbing the victim of a chain and cellphone. As the victim fled, Carey shot him in the back, with the bullet passing through his body.
A Worcester police officer nearby heard the gunshot and called for an ambulance while other officers provided first aid.
In July 2021, Judge James Gavin Reardon Jr. ultimately sentenced Carey to six to eight years in state prison, after he pleaded guilty to armed robbery.
The judge noted that the victim supported the agreed‑upon sentencing recommendation and that Carey was “catching something of a break” given his record, which included indictments for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer.
Reardon told Carey at the sentencing that he could have been sentenced to a term that would have kept him in prison into his 40s, urging him to take the chance to turn his life around.
On Thursday, meanwhile, Weber argued that a 58A detention was unnecessary for his client.
He noted that a 58A hearing is intended for cases where “there are no other reasonable alternatives to incarceration.”
“In this situation, a 58A is completely unnecessary,” Weber said. “He already has a parole detainer on him, so even before the Commonwealth moved for a 58A, we all knew that he wasn’t going to be released.”
Weber said Carey knows he will face additional time in prison related to the parole violation and just wants to be returned to Worcester to deal with that situation.
Phillips ultimately sided with prosecutors, deeming Carey a threat to the community and ordering him held for 120 days as the case progresses. The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office may seek to extend the detention if the case is not resolved within that period.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
