Brockton man who went on violent rampage stabbing man and dog in Taunton, sentenced to prison

A 28-year-old Brockton man who, in late 2018, went on a violent rampage inside his girlfriend’s Taunton home which resulted in the stabbing of her father and her dog, was sentenced last week to serve two to three years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Leonardo Medina pled guilty to indictments charging him with two counts of assault and battery on a family or household member, and one count each of animal cruelty, and assault and. battery with a dangerous weapon.

On December 9, 2018 the defendant arrived at his girlfriend’s home at 3:00 in the morning, walked into the residence, and started punching her in the face for no apparent reason.

When the victim asked him what he was doing, he swore at her and told her to shut up. At that point, the victim screamed for her father, who was sleeping in a downstairs bedroom. When the father came upstairs, the defendant attacked him and punched him in the face. The defendant then began ransacking the kitchen when he was once again confronted by the female victim’s father. The defendant, now armed with a kitchen knife, stabbed the father in the side of his stomach.

During the incident, the defendant also stabbed the family dog, an older Labrador retriever, in the leg.

When police arrived on scene, they were forced to deploy their tasers in order to get the defendant to comply with commands and submit to arrest.

The female victim was noted to have swelling on her face and a bloody lip. The father was transported to Morton Hospital in Taunton, where he was treated for his stab wound. The dog did not require hospitalization and did recover from the knife wound to its leg.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Lopes and the state prison sentence was imposed by Judge Thomas Perrino.

Upon his release from prison, the defendant will be placed on supervised probation with several conditions. The conditions include the successful completion of a batteries counseling program and an anger management counseling program. The defendant must also not come within 1,000 feet of there victim’s residence and make no direct or indirect contact with either victim.

“The defendant went on a violent rampage that included assaulting the two victims and stabbing their dog. Fortunately. no one was seriously injured. The defendant was held accountable for his violent behavior. He will be on supervised release for an additional two years and has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation,” District Attorney Quinn said.