New Bedford man who was on probation for assaulting court officers, sentenced to jail after biting an officer, threatening to kill

A 57-year-old New Bedford man who bit and assaulted a New Bedford Police officer was convicted during a district court trial recently and sentenced to serve an additional nine months in the county jail, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

A jury of six in New Bedford District Court convicted Joseph Nascimento of resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer.

This event stems from June 12, 2023, when New Bedford Police were called about an ongoing domestic violence related complaint about the defendant. 

After receiving the call, police also determined Nascimento had an active arrest warrant lodged against him. When officers attempted to speak to him on the street; he said, “f*ck you, no” and began to flee on foot. One of the officers tackled the defendant and told him he was under arrest. The defendant immediately began to resist by pulling his arms away from officer and kicking at them.  Multiple officers came to assist; on multiple occasions the defendant told police that he was going to kill them. Nascimento was then warned that if he kept resisting, he was going to be tased. He continued his behavior and was stunned a first time, which had no effect. Officers again attempted to get Nascimento’s arms behind his back and was stunned a second time, again with no effect. Finally, officers informed him that if he continued that he was going to be pepper sprayed. The defendant stated, ” f*ck you, I’m going to kill you.”  An officer was finally able to get one arm behind Nascimento’s back. At that point, he bit an officer on the hand and broke skin.  The officer attempted multiple times to pull his hand out of the defendant’s mouth but was unable to. Finally, the officer punched Nascimento in the mouth to release his hand. That same officer then rendered aid to Nascimento, at which point he kicked him in the head. 

After the conviction, Judge Cynthia Brackett sentenced Nascimento to serve nine months in the house or corrections on top of an 18-month jail sentence he is already serving for violating the terms of his probation connected to a similar case where he assaulted court officers at New Bedford District Court.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Victoria Bendza

“This defendant is a career criminal who has no respect for authority or the law. At the time he committed these crimes, he was on probation for similar crimes. He was completely disrespectful to the police and totally out of control. Fortunately, he will be off the street for up to 27 months. this case highlights the difficulty police can encounter when trying to restrain uncooperative and violent individuals,” District Attorney Quinn said.