Chelsea woman gets slap on the wrist for vicious attack on stripper

Lowell Sun


Chelsea woman gets probation for attack
By LISA REDMOND
Sun Staff


Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - LOWELL Exotic dancer Tyda Sam still has the 3-inch scar on her face to remind her that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Sam, a former stripper at Mac's Two in Billerica and the Blue Moon in Lowell, bears the permanent wound on the left side of her face after she was attacked by a woman who saw Sam talking to her attacker's former boyfriend, prosecutor Stephen Barton said.

In Lowell Superior Court last week, Mary Gueverra, 21, of Chelsea, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for using a box-cutter to slash Sam's face in the Sept. 23, 2001, incident at Shooters Lounge in Dracut.

In a plea agreement, Judge Jane Haggerty sentenced Gueverra to five years probation. During that time, Gueverra is to have not contact with the victim or witnesses in the case, and she is to make restitution to the victim in an amount to be determined at a later date.

While Sam was not in court to see her attacker sentenced, Barton said she agreed to Gueverra receiving probation.

Barton explained that Sam was at Shooters Lounge when she noticed Gueverra staring at her on the dance floor. It turns out that Sam had been talking to Gueverra's former boyfriend, who had "dumped her," Barton said. Sam, who was unaware of the prior relationship, did not know either person.

Shortly before 1 a.m., Gueverra attacked Sam using a box-cutter to slice the dancer's face from her nose to the bottom of her jaw, Barton said. The seven-centimeter slash wound cut through Sam's cheek into her mouth, leaving a permanent scar.