Man Charged with Battering Infant Left in His Care

A Massachusetts man is in custody by Nashua Police, accused of abusing a baby over the course of his short life and causing potentially lasting and disabling injuries, most recently by allegedly swinging a pillow case containing an iPad type tablet at the child and striking him in the face with it.

Nashua Police patrol officers arrested Enrique Santiago, 20, of 259 Andover St., Lawrence, Mass., Dec 31 on a warrant for first degree assault, a class A felony. 

Santiago had been arrested the day before in Lawrence, Mass., by Lawrence Police Department detectives as a fugitive from Justice as a result of this warrant. He subsequently waived extradition, was taken into custody by Nashua officers and transported back to New Hampshire. This arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Nashua Police Department’s Special Investigations Division.

On December 26, 2013 at approximately 5:08 p.m., Nashua patrol officers responded to a local hospital for report of an injured 10 week-old baby boy who had sustained bruising to the left side of his face, ear and buttocks. Initial examinations revealed that the child had sustained a brain bleed as well. These being suspicious injuries, detectives were notified. They responded and initiated an investigation.

Due to the child’s injuries he was transported to a hospital in Boston, Mass., for more intensive care. It was subsequently learned that the child had a multitude of injuries that ranged in age, to include: bleeding on the brain, brain swelling, retinal bleeding, fractured ribs, as well as leg and arm fractures. Despite these injuries the child is recovering. He is expected to survive but will have potentially lasting disabilities. He is currently in stable but critical but condition.

It was learned through the course of this investigation that on December 26 the child was been taken to the Nashua hospital by his mother. It was reported that mother’s boyfriend, Santiago had been caring for the child earlier that day at an apartment on Arlington Street in Nashua while the child’s mother was at work. The investigation revealed that Santiago assaulted the child earlier in the day by purposely swinging a pillow case, containing an iPad type tablet placed within by him, at the child, striking him in the face with it.

It was also learned during this investigation that Santiago was the person responsible for causing the other injuries to the child over the course of the last two months while the child was left in his care. It is alleged that Santiago assaulted the child repeatedly during that time frame by grabbing, squeezing, shaking, striking and slamming him, all of which caused the aforementioned injuries.