A Bingham man was arrested on several charges over the weekend after he allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a hammer then assaulted and threatened a police officer who happened upon a domestic disturbance at their residence.
Jonathan Rivera, 36, was arrested on charges of felony criminal mischief, felony assault, felony domestic violence terrorizing, domestic violence criminal threatening, refusing to submit to arrest and refusing to sign a criminal summons on five counts.
Maine State Police Trooper Jillian Monahan said she had pulled over a vehicle in a separate incident around 11 a.m. Saturday in Bingham when she heard screaming from a nearby residence.
A woman opened the door and asked Monahan to come over right away, saying it was an emergency. Inside was Rivera, Monahan said. She said he refused to be interviewed and became aggressive before leaving the residence. Once he had left, the woman told Monahan that Rivera had threatened her the day before with a hammer.
Monahan got a warrant for Rivera’s arrest before eventually finding his vehicle elsewhere in Bingham and pulling it over, she said.
She had planned to arrest him on only one charge, but said the others were added after he was “extremely uncooperative” during the arrest process. Three officers from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office and a Maine Game Warden were called to assist.
“He was kicking the door, kicking the dash. He tried to kick out the windshield, spit on me, spit on my cruiser,” Monahan said. “He damaged the cruiser.”
She said Rivera has an extensive criminal history, including several domestic violence charges. He was taken to the Somerset County Jail and is being held on $10,000 cash bail.
Monahan said she also wanted to thank the father and son that she pulled over in the original traffic stop, who stayed in their truck outside the residence while Monahan went inside. “It was just me for what felt like a really long time (before backup arrived),” she said.
“They stayed put like, ‘We’re either going to be really good witnesses’ or ‘We’re going to help you out,’ and they did,” she said. “It’s amazing in this state how overall we have really good Samaritans who help us out because we couldn’t do this job sometimes without people helping us out like that.”
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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