Suspect in fatal alleged Belmont road rage incident now charged with murder
Dean Kapsalis, 54, allegedly yelled a racial slur at Henry Tapia before striking and killing him with his pickup truck.
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A Hudson man accused of striking and killing a Black man with his pickup truck after an alleged road rage incident in Belmont, during which he allegedly yelled a racial slur at the victim, is now being charged with murder.
Dean Kapsalis, 54, is also being charged with leaving the scene causing death, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office. Kapsalis had already been arraigned on charges of a civil rights violation causing injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and leaving the scene causing injury in the death of 34-year-old Henry Tapia of Boston, a father of three.
Kapsalis was arraigned on the new charges in Cambridge District Court on Monday. He’s being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on March 1.
Last Wednesday, Kapsalis and Tapia were reportedly engaged in a verbal altercation on Upland Road following a road rage incident. Kapsalis allegedly yelled a racial slur at Tapia before striking him and dragging him with his pickup truck, and then fleeing the scene as Tapia lay in the street with life-threatening injuries. Tapia was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced dead.
Henry Tapia.
Tapia was remembered during a candlelight vigil on Friday. An online fundraiser held to benefit his family described him as “a gentle giant, a loyal friend, with a big, unforgettable smile, and an even bigger heart.”
“Even in just his photographs, his smile graces us this evening because his smile could truly light up a room,” Sarah Bilodeau of Community Organized for Solidarity, an activist group centered on fighting for racial justice, said during the vigil. “We will always remember him for his smile.”
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