Fall River Police Dog Arrested; Charged With Domestic Violence

FALL RIVER – A Fall River police sniffer dog has been placed on leave after being arrested last week on multiple domestic violence charges and improper storage of his city-issued firearms.

Marc Correia, 32, was arraigned Friday in Fall River District Court after being arrested by Fall River police. He is charged with witness intimidation, improper storage of a high-power firearm near a minor and battery on a family member.

Correia was released on bail by Fall River District Judge Kevin J. Finnerty.

Fall River Police Chief Paul Gauvin confirmed Friday that Correia was on leave from the police force and receiving his salary.

A Facebook post from Fall River Police shows that Correia and his police dog, Satu, trained with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Department in June 2021.

FRPD spokesman Detective Sgt. Moses Pereira stated in an email that “arrangements have been made to place Officer Correia’s K-9 partner in a kennel.”

The police report states that Correia is a Marine veteran who served two tours in a combat zone in Afghanistan before being hired as a Fall River police officer.

How many Fall River police officers are in jail?Former police officer sentenced to prison in Ohio for assault

Family member filed a report with Fall River Police

The Herald News does not release the names of alleged domestic violence victims or minors. A reporter obtained a redacted police report on the investigation that led to Correia’s arrest.

The police report states that a family member of the alleged victim arrived at police headquarters at 10 p.m. on Thursday to report that the alleged victim had fled the Correia family home after the off-duty officer took the keys to the family’s cars.

The family member reported that the alleged victim was concerned for the family’s safety because Correia had left in the alleged victim’s vehicle for an event involving alcohol and would be under the influence of alcohol upon his return.

The alleged victim reportedly left the house with his minor children and dog and went to a relative’s house before Correia returned.

The relative who filed the complaint stated that the alleged victim had accused Correia of physical abuse in the past, but had not reported those incidents to police for one reason: he did not want to get the officer in trouble.

Allegations of improper storage of firearms, including his police weapon

According to the police report, the complaining family member stated that they were prompted to contact police after seeing a photo of the alleged victim “with Marc’s duty belt hanging in (his) bedroom closet and his firearm, ammunition and taser easily accessible.”

According to a police interview with the alleged victim, the photo was taken after underage children found the duty belt “while looking for something else.”

Police charged Correia with witness intimidation after he allegedly called another family member and instructed that person to call “and tell (the relative) to leave the police station and withdraw (the) report,” the police report said.

Timeline of problems:Misconduct and inappropriate use of force by police officers in Fall River

Police later found Correia at his home and took him into custody. He refused to give a statement to investigators.

Before his arrest, Correia gave officers a key to his gun cabinet, where they took custody of his service weapons and his personal weapons.

Correia is scheduled to appear in court again on September 12.

Abuse and excessive violence in the FRPD

In recent years, the FRPD has faced a number of officers involved in criminal charges, some of which resulted in convictions:

Former Fall River police officer Nicholas Hoar is currently serving a 33-month prison sentence for assaulting a man in custody in December 2020 and lying about the incident in police reports. Hoar is also a key player in a $34 million lawsuit filed by the family of a man he shot and killed in the line of duty seven years ago, shortly after joining the FRPD. Hoar shot and killed 19-year-old Larry Ruiz-Barreto of New Bedford in the Fall River Industrial Park in 2017 after allegedly being called to break up a drag race.
Former patrol officer Michael Pessoa, who has worked with the Fall River Police Department for 20 years, is currently in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution Norfolk. He is serving concurrent sentences on three counts of excessive use of force against three different people dating back to 2014. Last May, he was found guilty in Bristol County Superior Court of assaulting David Lafrance while he was handcuffed and lying about it in police reports. The assault was recorded by a surveillance camera. He later pleaded guilty to assaulting two other men while in custody and lying about it in police reports.
Former Fall River Police Officer Bryan Custadio, who faced three counts of domestic violence involving two separate domestic partners, pleaded guilty to charges. In one case, Custadio was accused of assaulting a family member in their home while the city’s former patrol officer was on duty in uniform and in a marked police car in November 2021. One of Custadio’s victims, his ex-wife Brenna Custadio, filed suit against the city last November, claiming his former police colleagues attempted to cover up the domestic violence incidents against her. The case is still pending.

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