On Saturday, after allegedly stabbing four girls at a Braintree movie theater, then attacking two workers at a McDonald’s in Plymouth, Ravizza was arrested following a State Police pursuit that ended only after he lost control of his Porsche SUV and crashed in Sandwich. Officers used tasers to help take him into custody, records showed.
Related: Attacker ‘had a smile on his face’ and ‘laughed like the Joker,’ victim told police after Braintree movie theater stabbings
Now as the 26-year-old undergoes a court-ordered mental health evaluation in Bridgewater State Hospital, Ravizza’s increasingly erratic behavior — described by islanders and documented in police reports — has raised questions whether anything could have prevented the violence.
West Tisbury police were called to the Vineyard home in the early morning of April 14 after Ravizza’s father reported his son had struck him in the face and laid waste to his home office. But their efforts to have Jared Ravizza detained on a mental-health hold were rejected by an evaluator at the Vineyard hospital who said he did not meet the standards, police said in a report.
West Tisbury Police Chief Matthew Mincone said his department acted appropriately in four interactions with Ravizza over that period, including Ravizza’s alleged attack on his father, Jason Ravizza.
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“I wish something could have been done differently,” Mincone said in an interview. “It would have prevented the victims across the state” and in Connecticut.
On Tuesday, Ravizza was arraigned on charges including assault with intent to murder in the Plymouth stabbings and faces similar charges in the Braintree attack. Connecticut authorities said he is a suspect in the death of 70-year-old Bruce Feldman, whose body was found outside the Connecticut home a few hours before the Massachusetts attacks.
For some of the past few months, based on information Braintree police received from Connecticut authorities, Feldman and Ravizza had been living together in the Deep River home. A neighbor, who acknowledged to police they had issues with Ravizza over two dogs the pair had, said things escalated Saturday when Ravizza threw a shovel through the neighbor’s window.
After police spoke to the neighbors that day, they found Feldman and the two dogs dead of apparent knife wounds, according to a Braintree police report.
On Tuesday, a court psychologist recommended Ravizza undergo the evaluation at Bridgewater because he had signs of psychotic illness and delusions. She said he has had mental health difficulties for about two years.
Related: What to know about Jared Ravizza, the Martha’s Vineyard man charged in multiple stabbings
Ravizza’s public defender has declined to comment on the case. Jason Ravizza did not respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday.
Public records show the Ravizza family owned a home in Agawam, where Jared spent time in his youth. He attended Gordon College, a private Christian college in Wenham, for one semester.
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In court papers, Ravizza has talked about the importance of his family.
In petitions last year and in April to a Dukes County family court, he asked to change his name in honor of his paternal grandmother, Priscilla Jones. “Jones” was added to his name last year. In April, he asked for another name change, to Jared Love Jones, records show.
That change was about “honoring the creative brilliance and magical beauty of my entire Jones family lineage,” Ravizza wrote in a court filing.
The court agreed. A few days after the second name change, police said, Ravizza attacked his father.
His arrest for allegedly assaulting his father followed a series of interactions between Jared Ravizza and local police in West Tisbury. Those records showed signs of friction between him and Feldman, who apparently stayed with Ravizza for periods on Martha’s Vineyard, as well as signs his mental health was declining.
On Christmas morning, Feldman requested a well-being check on Ravizza, whom he believed was taking psychedelic drugs.
Feldman told a police dispatcher he was texting Ravizza “to make sure he is OK but not getting a response,” the report said. When an officer went to the house, Ravizza’s father answered the door and said his son was fine. The West Tisbury officer also spoke with Jared Ravizza and reported that everything seemed fine.
When an officer relayed to Feldman that there was no reason to think Ravizza was in danger, Feldman “began going on a rant” and worried that Ravizza was a CIA test subject and was hallucinating, according to the report.
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The next month, Ravizza’s behavior during a yoga class raised enough concern that the business’s manager called West Tisbury police to say he was acting suspiciously and making strange statements, according to a report. Depending on the conversation, he’s a “professional skier then a professional DJ,” the report said.
The caller told police they didn’t believe Ravizza was a threat to anyone, and they weren’t seeking a no-trespass order. “Just wanted this documented,” police wrote in the Jan. 10 report.
Then on April 14, Ravizza’s father told police his son had suffered a “mental break and attacked him,” leaving marks on the father’s hand and face. Police detained him, at which point Jared Ravizza was “frothing out the mouth,” ranting about the “deep state,” and saying his father wanted him dead.
Officers then sent him for the mental-health evaluation and attempted to file a Section 12 order, a mechanism to detain people who pose harm to themselves or others because of mental illness. A mental health professional at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital determined Ravizza “did not meet their standards to be held via Section 12,” according to the police report.
A spokesperson for the hospital, which is part of the Mass General Brigham system, declined to comment Wednesday, citing patient privacy laws.
Ravizza was released and charged with assault and battery on a family or household member. He was granted pretrial diversion. Since the new charges were announced, the Cape and Islands district attorney’s office on Tuesday filed to revoke the diversion, according to court filings.
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The allegations against Ravizza have rippled across the island, as many here recognize pictures of him as the man who made such claims as having a place in Beverly Hills, or being best friends with Chris Rock.
Gimili Glavin vividly recalls running into Ravizza — decked out in a pink hat and chains — while working at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown about a year ago on Mother’s Day.
“He just seemed like a cartoon character of himself, very warm and entertaining, but probably very contrived and lost inwardly,” Glavin said. “As a mother, I kind of wanted to hug him — or help him.”
At the Quarterdeck Restaurant in Edgartown, one man’s eyes widened when a reporter showed him a photo of Ravizza. “I know him!” he said.
The man, a year-round island resident who asked to be identified only as Will, said Ravizza became upset when he couldn’t hang out with him and other staffers of a local film festival. He kept trying to join the group, before giving up and trying to explain away his anger.
“He just seemed disconnected,” he said.
On Wednesday, two members of the yoga studio on State Road that Ravizza had frequented said people began to tire of his antics.
“It was a mix of his behavior, and his tall tales,” said one woman. “He was an odd character.”
Nick Stoico of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com. Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter.
