Crime & Safety

Man Tries to Kiss Cop after Beating Pregnant Girlfriend

Mark Rivera of Cranston Street is facing charges of domestic simple assault and simple assault.

Trying to kiss a Cranston police officer isn't going to get you out of domestic assault charges for allegedly beating your pregnant girlfriend, a 50-year-old Cranston Street man learned recently.

Police responded to a Cranston Street apartment on Nov. 8 for a report of a disturbance and met a woman who had a red mark on her face and her wrist. Police said the woman told them that her boyfriend had slapped and dragged her around the apartment by her hair. 

The boyfriend — Mark Rivera, 50, of 1213 Cranston St., — was in a different apartment and told police his name was "Eshu" and "began talking about things that did not make sense," according to a police report. 

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Rivera responded "yes" to the question of whether he hit the victim, police said, so he was taken into custody on charges of domestic assault.

The victim reportedly told police that Rivera has medical issues and hunting knives were taken out of the apartment a few days ago.

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At police headquarters, Rivera refused to get out of the car and began blowing kisses. He finally got out of the car after a few minutes and when officers removed the handcuffs to fingerprint him, he tried to grab a patrolman's face "to kiss him," police said. "[the patrolman] grabbed his hands and told him to back away. [Rivera] said he needed to 'cleanse us.'"

It was a struggle to process Rivera, police said, since he spit on the computer screen and at a camera. Some of his spit landed on Officer Donald K. Salvatore Jr.'s pants.

Rivera was charged with one count of domestic simple assault and one count of simple assault for spitting on a police officer. 

Rivera was arraigned and pleaded not guilty on Nov. 9 and was released on personal recognizance. He will return to court on Dec. 3 for a pretrial conference. A no-contact order was issued.


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