Police officers await trial: What to know about 3 pending cases in Fall River
FALL RIVER — On May 31, a jury in Bristol County Superior Court found 44-year-old former Fall River police officer Michael Pessoa guilty of police brutality, civil rights violations, witness intimidation and lying on police reports about an incident in February 2019.
A Superior Court judge revoked Pessoa’s bail he’d been free on since his indictment in June 2019, and his sentencing was delayed until June 21 as he remains in custody at Bristol County House of Correction, according to Superior Court records.
But Pessoa’s criminal legal woes aren’t over yet, with more criminal cases pending on similar charges.
Pessoa’s not alone, and there are both current and former city police officers facing both criminal cases against them. Here’s what we know.
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Pessoa may face other juries in the future
Pessoa is named as a defendant in two more use-of-force cases. Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III vowed to pursue those cases after the 19-year FRPD veteran was found guilty on all four counts against him after a six-day trial.
Pessoa was found guilty of punching 59-year-old David Lafrance in 2019 while he was being released from custody; Lafrance was temporarily handcuffed pending a short investigation into a neighbor dispute at an apartment building on South Main Street.
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Three other FRPD officers who testified for the prosecution during the trial are no longer in the police force. Former officers Andre Demelo and Sean Aguiar quit, and Thomas Roberts was fired after an internal investigation. He testified at trial that he’s trying to get his job back and is appealing the termination.
Pessoa was fired from the police department about a year ago.
Another officer is facing trial in federal court
Patrolman Nicholas Hoar was arrested by federal law enforcement in November 2022 after a grand jury indicted him for alleged brutality on 57-year-old William Harvey while he was in custody at police headquarters in December 2021.
Part of the alleged assault was caught on a booking room surveillance camera.
After the FBI received a complaint regarding the alleged assault by one of Harvey’s relatives, Hoar was on paid leave from the department.
That changed to unpaid leave after his indictment by a federal grand jury.
Hoar's case: City police officer facing federal civil rights charges has case back before a judge
Former FRPD patrolman jailed awaiting three domestic criminal cases ordered released on $1,000 bail
Former patrol officer Bryan Custadio was out on bail on personal recognizance on two domestic cases where he’s accused of assaulting a family member twice in 2021. In one of the incidents, the 32-year-old Custadio is accused of choking the alleged victim while he was on duty.
But a Superior Court judge revoked his bail on March 1 after Custadio was arrested again for allegedly attacking a different domestic partner after a night of drinking.
Custadio was ordered held for a minimum of 90 days in jail at least until a hearing review on May 30 after he was found a danger in a dangerousness hearing brought by the Bristol County DA’s office.
He spent those 90 days in Nantucket at the Dukes County Correctional Facility until his hearing, where he was ordered released on $1,000 cash bail for the third alleged domestic case and personal recognizance for the first two cases, according to court records.
Custadio was on paid leave from the department last November 2021 until August 2022 and after his second of two arrests on domestic assault charges. He was terminated after an internal investigation and an officer hearing.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Ex-Fall River police officers face criminal charges: What to know
