Ex-Tewksbury Wrestling Champ Gets Probation For Assaults

LOWELL, MA -- Nearly a year after Stephen Bonugli had his jaw and eye socket broken after being repeatedly punched by Broc Dokos, a former Tewksbury wrestling champ, Dokos admitted to assault charges in Lowell District Court on Tuesday.

In a case that forced the Tewksbury sports community to chose sides, Dokos, 19, formerly of Tewksbury, admitted to sufficient facts to charges of : assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, and assault.

In an unrelated case, Dokos also admitted to sufficient facts to an assault and battery charge that allegedly involved throwing a bottle of Gatorade at a 15-year-old boy on May 6, 2016.

Defense attorney Lynda Dantas, who represents Dokos, said her client is "remorseful" and admits to "responsibility" to his actions and wants to move forward with his life.

Judge Thomas Brennan continued both cases without a finding for a total of two years during which time Dokos is on probation.

While on probation, Dokos must abstain from drugs and alcohol, undergo anger management, stay away from the victims and complete 100 hours of community service.

If Dokos has no more legal troubles while on probation the charges will be dismissed.

Brennan allowed Dokos to leave Massachusetts to attend college in Iowa.

Dokos, a 2016 Tewksbury High School graduate, is a 2016 Division 2 State Wrestling Champion. He had received a scholarship before he was arrested.

In court, Bonugli told Tewksbury Patch that he preferred Dokos serve "a couple of months" in jail, but he was "okay" with Dokos receiving probation.

Dokos was accused of beating Bonugli, then 18 and a former at a friend's 2016 Fourth of July party in Tewksbury.

Tewksbury police allege that as a drunken Bonugli sat on a couch at 3 a.m., Dokos "stormed" into the living room and punched Bonugli in the face up to six times.

Unconscious after the first punch, police say Bonugli suffered a concussion, a broken orbital bone, and needed surgery to wire his broken jaw shut for six weeks.

Bonugli's father told police that his son and Dokos had an ongoing issue and that Dokos allegedly told his son that he would "get him" when he least expected it.

During Dokos' dangerousness hearing shortly after his arrest last July, Dokos' girlfriend Amanda Ferreira, and his best friend, Fox Maxwell, testified that they were at the party and that Bonugli was the aggressor.

Ferreira and Maxwell testified that each witnessed part of the incident, but both testified that Bonugli shoved Dokos and tried unsuccessfully to punch him before Dokos punched the victim twice in the face.

But Ferreira and Maxwell have been indicted on perjury charges. The Middlesex District Attorney's Office alleges that investigators learned that neither Ferreira nor Maxwell were at the party.

Ferreira and Maxwell have pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on personal recognizance.

Those cases are pending in Lowell Superior Court.

Photo of Broc Dokos by Lisa Redmond/lisa.redmond@patch.com.