By Jim Clark

Somerville Police officers were dispatched to a Broadway location last week in response to a 9-1-1 report of an assault.

The victim told the 9-1-1 operator that a man had pulled a knife on him and that the man had left the area and went towards Stop & Shop on McGrath Hwy.

Upon their arrival, the officers spoke with the victim, who said that he went to Maya Sol Restaurant to inquire if the owner of the restaurant had video cameras outside. The victim told the owner that his tools had been stolen from his work van and he wanted to know if the incident had been recorded on video.

According to the victim, a heavy-set Brazilian man was sitting at the restaurant and overheard his conversation with a restaurant employee. The man followed the victim to his home, pulled out a folding knife, aimed it at him, and said in Portuguese, “I’m going to get you, I’m going to kill you.”

Police located a man identified as Luciano Delira, who matched the description provided by the victim, walking from Kensington Ave. onto Broadway. This corroborated the victim’s statement of the defendant fleeing toward Stop & Shop.

It appeared that Delira walked back to Broadway after seeing two State Troopers on a road detail outside the Stop & Shop.

An officer read Delira his Miranda Rights and asked him if he wished to speak with him. Delira reportedly agreed to speak to the officers and told them that the victim had accused him of stealing his tools and pointed a gun at him.

According to reports, Delira was asked why he went to the victim’s residence, to which he replied, “I wanted to confront him because he pulled a gun on me.”

When asked why he would confront someone who pulled a gun on him instead of calling the police, Delira reportedly remained silent.

A witness to the incident told police that he was sitting on a bench near the corner of Broadway and Garfield Avenue when he witnessed the defendant and the victim arguing, but he did not witness the assault because it was too far away to know if a weapon was used. The witness was asked if he could describe the defendant and he replied by stating, “It’s the guy you have detained.”

Delira was subsequently placed under arrest on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon and taken to the police station for booking.