DRACUT — Police arrested a 19-year-old Dracut man last night in connection with the short, vicious beating of a 22-year-old man outside the Dunkin’ Donuts shop in the Collinsville section late Thursday.

As Michael Peasley lay in critical condition at Boston Medical Center last night, Andrew Shockley, 19, of 31 Hillside Road, was facing charges of aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — his shod foot. Shockley was arrested at home on a warrant. He faces arraignment Monday in Lowell District Court.

“The victim was punched in the face repeatedly and then thrown to the ground and kicked at least once,” Deputy Police Chief David Chartrand said. “The suspect got into a vehicle and left. We have not been able to determine what started the argument.”

Peasley’s most serious injuries are to his head, but Chartrand stopped short of saying he was kicked in the head.

Detectives focused on Shockley after their investigation yielded several previously undisclosed important pieces of information, which they brought to Lowell District Court and obtained a warrant yesterday.

Traffic at the intersection of Mammoth and Lakeview roads, where the shot is located, was steady last evening. Business at the doughnut shop was brisk.

Nobody answered the door at Peasley’s nearby home last night and mail was still in the mailbox.

The School Department’s Central School Office is across the street and the Collinsville Bible Church nearby. There are retail stores such as Tedeschi and Palace Pizza on the far corner.

“It’s horrible, it’s not usual for Dracut” said John Grugan, of Dracut. “For Lowell or Boston it’s par for the course but it’s very unusual for Dracut.

Jessica Clapper was working at the restaurant and planned to take a break to have a cigarette outside with Peasley. He had used a restroom and gone outside to wait, she said.

Clapper said she was behind the counter during the attack but did not see what happened. She heard a bang on a window but Peasley’s attacker was gone by the time she was able to run around the counter to the parking lot.

“The whole incident was fairly quick as far as the entire altercation,” Chartrand said.

Peasley was grunting and trying to stand up but could not, Clapper said. So she let him lean against her while waiting for paramedics.

“He stopped breathing and (paramedics) had to ventilate him,” she said.

Mike McKay, of Dracut, said he knows Peasley but had not heard of the fight before last evening.

McKay, 18, said he used to hang out around the restaurant when he was younger and was surprised to hear of the fight.

“I’ve never seen a fight here,” he said. “I hung out here five years in a row and never once saw a fight here.”

Tom Payne lives next door to the Peasleys.

“I’d describe him as a nice guy,” Payne said. “He’s offered to help me with certain things.”

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