Man who tried to dive out of 12th

A man who attempted to dive out the window of a 12th-floor apartment in the South End was held without bail Wednesday, as police investigated the death of a man whose body was found in the bloodstained residence.

Michael J. Perry, 37, appeared in Boston Municipal Court wearing a white disposable coverall on charges of assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon after a SWAT team descended on the unit on Sunday evening. A plea of not guilty was entered on Perry's behalf and he was remanded to custody pending a dangerousness hearing on Friday.

Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum said Perry could face additional charges once the state Medical Examiner's office determines the cause of death for the man who lived in the 35 Northampton St. apartment. Perry's connection to the man, whom authorities have not named, was not disclosed in court.

According to Polumbaum and a police report, a maintenance worker at the building was conducting a well-being check on the resident, whose family had not heard from him in two days. The worker tried to open the door but found it blocked by the man's body in the entryway, where blood was visible, police said.

Police arrived to find Perry still in the apartment. A SWAT team was called in after officers heard Perry "moving objects around the rear of the apartment" while they tried to negotiate with him from the hallway, police said.

The team entered the apartment and discovered Perry had surrounded himself with furniture and had a butcher knife in one hand and a "sharp object" in the other, police said. Police ordered him to drop the weapons, but Perry refused and kept pacing back and forth behind a large dresser.

Perry "then began to move in a hurried, aggressive manner in the direction of officers while still being armed," police wrote. An officer fired a "less-lethal" munition known as a 40mm "blue nose" round at Perry, according to police.

"The suspect dropped to the floor and dropped both weapons" but remained hidden behind his makeshift barricade, police said. Officers began dismantling the barricade so they could reach Perry, police said.

"At this time, officers could hear yelling outside the apartment window," police said. They found Perry "hanging upside down, outside of the window, being held only by his underwear, which was caught on the window handle."

Officers propped open the window and grabbed Perry's legs while others rushed to the unit one floor below, police said. "Officers broke both windows which were located in front of the suspect's dangling body and were safely able to retrieve the suspect," police said.

Perry was taken to a hospital with injuries that included cuts to his head and hands, police said.

Perry previously served time in state prison in connection with a brutal 2019 assault in Roxbury, according to court records.

In June of that year, Perry's sister contacted police and asked them to find her brother because he had been threatening to harm himself or others. Perry had left the sober house where he was living and went to visit a friend at a Roxbury rooming house, according to court records.

Perry's friend smoked marijuana while Perry consumed methamphetamine. After Perry accidentally unplugged a lamp, causing the room to go dark, the friend used the light on his cellphone to find the cord. Perry became enraged and accused the friend of recording him with his phone.

He began "punching [the victim] several times in the face, throwing a flat-screen TV at him, and wrapping an HDMI cord around his neck. The victim used his hands to block the cord and prevent strangulation,’' according to court papers filed by prosecutors.

Perry then "grabbed a large knife and a frying pan from the kitchen down the hall and continued the attack," prosecutors wrote. "He struck the victim in the head with the frying pan, causing it to bend almost in half. The defendant also stabbed the victim multiple times with the kitchen knife in the face, armpit, arms and left hand."

Perry came outside, still carrying the knife. Police ordered him to drop it, but he "kept walking with the knife held in front of him and repeatedly told the officer to shoot him," prosecutors wrote.

Surrounded by police, Perry was hit with three bursts of pepper spray but tried to escape by climbing a nearby fence. Police wrestled him to the ground, with one of the officers breaking his leg in the process, police wrote.

Perry pleaded guilty in July 2020 and was given a three to four year sentence in state prison with credit for the 365 days he was jailed awaiting trial, records show. It was not immediately clear when he was released from prison.

John R. Ellement can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Bailey Allen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @baileyaallen.

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