Former Boston College TE C.J. Parsons pleads not guilty in attack on homeless man
Former Boston College TE C.J. Parsons and former Marist QB Anthony Varrichione pled not guilty to assault and battery charges Wednesday in a Massachusetts court.
According to prosecutors, the two attacked 50-year-old Michael Hudson, a man who had been homeless for most of his life. The incident allegedly happened when Hudson was panhandling in front of an address he recently obtained around 2 a.m. on January 26.
Parsons was a redshirt junior in 2013 and Varrichione was a QB for Marist from 2009-2012.
“Hudson was told to go away and leave the area multiple times,’’ prosecutors wrote.
When Hudson refused to move and stayed in place outside a gated chain link fence in front of the property, Parsons and Varrichione allegedly began to physically assault him, knocking him unconscious with multiple punches, authorities alleged.
During the assault, Hudson’s “head was [allegedly] slammed into the sidewalk three to four times by Craig Parsons,’’ prosecutors allege.
The attack then stopped, prosecutors say, when a female pedestrian came to help Hudson and threw herself on top of him. Parsons and Varrichione then subsequently fled. Hudson was taken to a hospital where he was hospitalized for three days with bleeding on his brain and has no memory of the alleged attack.
Parsons has been suspended from Boston College until the charges are resolved. He was also charged with witness intimidation after allegedly asking someone to not identify him.
Parsons and Varrichione went to high school together at Xaverian High School in Westwood, Mass.
Until he was suspended, Parsons was scheduled to graduate in May and participated in Boston College's pro day on March 12. He had nine catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns in 2013. Two of those touchdowns came in Boston College's 48-34 loss to Florida State on September 28.
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