BY AMY CALDER

Staff Writer

Two Canaan women are among five people expected to appear in court next month in connection with the alleged May 24 robbery and beating of a Benton man they met at a Waterville bar.

Michelle Hutchins, 30, and Shannan N. Santerre, 25, both of Canaan; Richard Horton, 35, of Dorchester, Mass.; David James, 23, of Mattapan, Mass.; and Kendra M. Totten, 21, of Augusta, are scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. July 14 in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta.

During an arraignment, a defendant or his or her attorney appears in court and enters a plea.

The five were indicted Wednesday by a Kennebec County grand jury. All were indicted on the Class A felony charge of robbery, involving Christopher Rosenbloom, 58, of Benton.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but is a determination that enough evidence exists in a case to bring it to trial.

Hutchins, Santerre, Horton, James and Totten met Rosenbloom at the Bob-In restaurant and lounge on Temple Street in Waterville and drove him to Benton, where they robbed and beat him and stole $1,800 that was in his wallet, according to an affidavit signed by state police Trooper Rick Moody, who investigated the case.

Rosenbloom called police May 24 from his cell phone and said he had been beaten and robbed by people he met at the Bob-In and was lying in the ditch in which he was beaten, the affidavit says. He said he was bleeding and did not know where he was.

The people he met at the Bob-In had offered him a ride home to Benton and while they were in the vehicle, two men started punching him, stopped the vehicle, pulled him out and continued to beat him. He lost ultimately lost consciousness, the affidavit says.

"It's a disturbing sort of pre-meditated robbery," District Attorney Evert Fowle said Friday of the case.

After he was treated for his injuries, Rosenbloom told police he received 10 stitches on his forehead and suffered a possible broken left wrist, a bruise on the top of his head and scratches and bruises on his back. Fowle did not have details of Rosenbloom's condition as of Friday, but said it was his impression that he was improving.

Rosenbloom identified his attackers in a video-surveillance tape from the Bob-In, and Moody ultimately arrested Hutchins, Santerre, Horton, James and Totten on May 30 in Canaan.

Fowle said Friday that the maximum penalty for Class A robbery is 30 years in prison. Assuming the five people are convicted, the court -- in imposing sentencing -- would probably take into account both the details of the case as well as any prior criminal records of those charged, he said.

While the grand-jury indictments do not use the word "assault," they say that those charged used physical force on Rosenbloom during the robbery.

"The assault which took place is an essential component of the robbery charge," Fowle said.

After the July 14 arraignment, attorneys will be given a period of time to file pre-trial motions, which likely would bring the case into August, Fowle said.

"It may very well be on the September or October trial list -- probably more like October," he said.

Horton and James are being held in the Kennebec County jail in lieu of $10,000 bail; the other three have been released on bail.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com