HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP) - A judge dismissed domestic assault and battery charges against a Massachusetts police officer whose girlfriend accused him of assaulting her.
Judge Allen Swan agreed to dismiss the charges against Carlos Arriaga, 48, on Wednesday because the prosecution wasn’t able to proceed without cooperation from Arriaga’s girlfriend, the Eagle Tribune reported.
Arriaga has been on paid leave from the Haverhill Police Department since he was arrested Aug. 7, 2019 following the alleged altercation.
He called the Haverhill police station just before midnight to request a senior officer to come to his home, according to court documents. A woman called 911 around the same time to say she was being assaulted and asked for police to come to Arriaga’s home.
Arriaga told police that he and the woman had a “few drinks” before bed. Arriaga said that when the couple got into bed, his phone lit up with a Gmail notification. The woman told police it was a Match.com notification.
The couple got into an argument, and the woman got into her car in the garage, according to the report. As the woman was backing out, some of her belongings, including a metal water bottle fell. Arriaga picked the items up and threw them into the back of the car.
The woman told police that he “intentionally” threw the water bottle at her and that she was hit near her right eyebrow. There was no visible redness or bruising, and the woman declined medical attention, according to the report.
Arriaga’s defense attorney, Gerard LaFlamme, said he was confident he could have proved his client’s innocence if the case had been taken to trial.
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