Fall River man sentenced after decline of ice cream leads to beating of girlfriend, biting of officer

A 55-year-old Fall River man who violently assaulted his live-in girlfriend and bit a police officer was sentenced last week to serve up to five years in state prison last week, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

According to Gregg Miliote of the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office, Bruce Fournier was convicted by a jury of his peers after a three-day trial in Fall River Superior Court on charges of assault and battery on a family or household member-subsequent offense, witness intimidation, and assault and battery on a police officer.

On September 8, 2018, Fall River Police were dispatched to an apartment on Globe Street in regards to a loud domestic disturbance. Once on scene, police learned from the victim that the defendant became enraged after the victim declined an offer of ice cream from the defendant. The defendant grabbed the victim by the neck and threw her onto the bed. When the victim attempted to get up, the defendant backhanded her back onto the bed. The defendant then grabbed two kitchen knives, held them up to the victim and told her that if she called the police that it would end badly for her.

After placing the defendant under arrest and putting him into a police cruiser, the defendant began continuously banging his head against the partition. A Fall River Police officer reached his arm into the back seat area of the cruiser to stop the defendant from harming himself further, at which point the defendant bit the officer’s arm and remained locked onto it. The officer had significant bruising and bite marks on his arm, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The trial was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Lopes and the four-and-a-half to five year state prison term was imposed by Judge Thomas Perrino. The defendant was also placed on supervised probation for an additional two years, which includes mandatory batterers counseling, substance abuse evaluations and an order to stay away from the victim.

The defendant has an extensive criminal history, which included 18 convictions for assaultive behavior during the past three decades.

“I am very pleased the jury held the defendant accountable for his violent assault on the victim and biting a police officer,” District Attorney Quinn said. “The defendant has a 35 year history of committing violent crimes and continues to persist with this behavior into his mid-50s. He needs to be kept off the street to protect the public and the police.”