A Liberty man was charged with kidnapping and robbery after he was arrested following a domestic dispute that turned physical on May 27.
Village of Liberty police said officers responded to a report of a physical domestic dispute in progress at an apartment on Chestnut Street at 8 p.m. on May 27.
When officers arrived, they heard a woman in an upstairs apartment yelling for help.
As officers approached the apartment door, a man inside refused to open it, and he tried to prevent the door from opening.
Fearing for the immediate safety of the woman inside, officers forced entry into the apartment and took the man into custody.
He was identified as Edwin Rivera-Rosa, 29, of Liberty.
Police said further investigation determined that Rivera-Rosa had engaged in multiple criminal acts, including punching the female victim in the face multiple times, forcibly stealing her cell phone in an attempt to prevent her from calling for help, threatening to kill the woman if she tried to leave the apartment or contact law enforcement, and assaulting the woman while she was holding a 1-year-old child.
Rivera-Rosa was charged with second-degree kidnapping and third-degree robbery, both felonies; and third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest and attempted third-degree criminal mischief, all misdemeanors.
He was arraigned before Liberty Town Justice Troy Johnstone and sent to the Sullivan County jail in lieu of $250,000 cash bail, $750,000 secured bond or $1.8 million partially secured bond, pending further court action.
“Domestic violence has no place in our community,” Liberty Chief of Police Steven D’Agata said in a statement released by his office. “The Liberty Police Department will continue to expend every resource at our disposal to support victims and to investigate, apprehend and incarcerate those who choose to commit these violent acts.”
The name of Rivera-Rosa’s attorney was not immediately available.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Liberty man charged with punching woman, kidnapping in domestic incident
Reporting by Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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