The Martha’s Vineyard man accused of stabbing six people in Massachusetts over the weekend had reportedly been involved in a heated dispute with neighbors just beforehand that culminated in him hurling a shovel through their window.
Jared Ravizza, 26, appeared in court Tuesday morning on charges of assault with intent to murder, and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Ravizza is accused of going on an unprovoked rampage on Saturday night in which he randomly stabbed four girls inside a movie theater before later attacking two McDonald’s employees.
He was also spotted urinating in the McDonald’s drive-thru by a woman who told cops he had been making a face like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, the court heard. He was taken into custody later that night after allegedly leading cops on a chase that ended with him crashing his Porsche.
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After his appearance in court wearing no shoes, Ravizza was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.
He has also now been named as a suspect in a homicide that occurred hours before his alleged stabbing spree. Connecticut State Police say 70-year-old Bruce Feldman, identified in reports as Ravizza’s roommate, was found dead “with visible injuries” outside a home in Deep River shortly after Ravizza left the home.
Ravizza had flipped out when his neighbors in Connecticut called the police on Feldman for allegedly trespassing on their property, according to the New York Post. Feldman had been staying with Ravizza at a home he was renting and had been known to walk around the neighborhood with his pet poodle. But some neighbors said Feldman would sit on their porches without permission, leading to police being called Saturday.
When Ravizza found out, he “picked up a shovel, went down to their house and threw it at their window,” neighbor Charlie Brashears told local outlet WTNH. Another neighbor said the shovel had gone straight through the neighbors’ window.
Police responding to the scene then found a dead body inside the rental home later identified as Feldman.
“This is like the weirdest stuff we’ve been around,” said Brashears. “This is like 1970s Scorsese Taxi Driver stuff.”
Neighbors told the Post they believed Bruce’s poodle had also been found dead inside the home, though authorities have not yet confirmed it.
Ravizza apparently moved to the neighborhood after he was arrested on Martha’s Vineyard in April for allegedly attacking his father. His father, Jason Ravizza, a psychologist, reportedly told cops at the time that his son had suffered a “mental break.” Officers noted in their report that the younger Ravizza had been “frothing” at the mouth as he spoke of “nonsensical” things, including a string of conspiracy theories. They wanted a hospital to place him on an involuntary hold and he was sent to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital for a mental health evaluation, but he “did not meet their standards to be held,” according to The Boston Globe.
Ravizza reportedly filed paperwork last month to officially change his name to Jared Love Jones. He has boasted of working as a model in the past but bills himself as an artist on Instagram, where he’s shared an endless selection of selfies and some images that appear to be of his artwork.
