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Man who allegedly attacked woman outside Planet Fitness was looking for revenge

Jordan C. Lamonde.Handout

DOVER, N.H. — The New Hampshire man who allegedly pummeled a woman 39 times in a gym parking lot targeted the victim as an indirect act of revenge against a relative of the woman’s former boyfriend, court records show.

Jordan C. Lamonde believed that a man named Joe Bunch had stolen his safe containing $30,000 in cash, and he allegedly decided to attack Erin McCarthy on June 12 because she was dating Bunch’s brother, named Steven, records show.

A not-guilty plea to second-degree assault charges was filed on behalf of the 22-year-old Lamonde in Strafford Superior Court, Strafford Deputy County Attorney Tim Sullivan said. Lamonde currently remains on $150,000 cash bail, but that will be changed to personal recognizance if the community corrections program concludes it can supervise him in the community.

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Sullivan and defense attorney John E. Durkin both said that if Lamonde is released, he would be required to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, would have to stay away from McCarthy and other “exclusion zones” or be arrested, and might have to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Sullivan said Lamonde has no prior arrests in Stafford County.

McCarthy, 18, has told media outlets since the incident that she did not know who the attacker was, which authorities now say was not accurate. “It does appear that they know each other,’’ Sullivan said.

McCarthy was at the courthouse Tuesday and left without speaking to reporters afterwards, except to say she was “frustrated” by the bail order.

Muttering a barnyard phrase, McCarthy ran from reporters who were pressing her for information about her ties to Lamonde.

Sullivan said the case will now be presented to a grand jury for the next phase in the criminal case.

Durkin said Lamonde “has the support of his family” and has no prior criminal convictions.

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“He’s doing OK,” Durkin said, declining comment when asked whether Lamonde knew McCarthy.

Durkin also declined to discuss what appears to be substantial information linking Lamonde to the attack.

“The state has the burden of proof,’’ said Durkin, who has been privately retained. “We will assess the matter once we see all the evidence. If Jordan wants to go to trial, we will go to trial.’’

In court papers, Lamonde indicated he is currently unemployed.

The attack was captured by a surveillance camera and posted by Rochester police on social media, given the incident’s widespread media coverage. Lamonde was identified as a suspect by a former friend who saw the video and told police she was 100 percent certain he was the attacker.

The former friend also told police the pair of sunglasses that the attacker left behind in the parking lot of Planet Fitness matched a pair Lamonde was shown wearing in a photograph posted on his Facebook page.

The former friend also alerted police to the connection between the Bunches, the victim, and Lamonde.

“It was later determined through conversation with [Steven] Bunch that he was the one Jordan accused of stealing his safe that contained thousands of dollars,’’ police wrote in the report. “Steven told detectives that they [Lamonde and he] had been good friends until that accusation. They had not spoken to each other or [had] contact since.’’

Police said that after the attack, they reviewed surveillance video and discovered the man they say is Lamonde pulled into the Planet Fitness parking lot and then sat there for the next eight hours, waiting for the moment when McCarthy, then a Planet Fitness employee, finished her shift.

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As she walked to her car, he attacked her, punching her in the head and body, throwing her to the ground, and kneeing her in the head, causing “hematomas, lacerations and abrasions to her body.”

A spokesman for the Rochester police, Captain Jason Thomas, said Tuesday the department has closed its investigation with the arrest of Lamonde. No other arrests are expected, he said.

“We are confident Lamonde is the only person involved in this crime,’’ he said. “From our point of view, the case is closed.”


Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney. John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.