April 25, 2016

Massachusetts State Policeman Jailed For Beating His State Policewoman Girlfriend, Many Years Of Abuse Alleged



Massachusetts State Trooper Robert Sundberg appears in Ayer District Court on charges of assault on a family member and strangulation or suffocation charges against his girlfriend. He is accompanied by his attorney Richard Rafferty. 
Staff photo by Faith Ninivaggi

[From article]
A state trooper was held pending a dangerousness hearing on Wednesday after he was accused of beating his girlfriend, who is also a state trooper, dragging her by the hair and choking her until she almost lost consciousness.
At a hearing today in Ayer District Court, Judge J. Elizabeth Cremens ordered Robert Sundberg, 45, to stay away from the alleged victim for one year. He had abused her for years, a prosecutor said.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Doxtader said Sundberg was intoxicated when he awoke the victim early Saturday at their Boxboro apartment, choking her until she managed to break loose and lock herself in the bathroom.
The defendant forced his way into the bathroom, held her down and choked her until she became dizzy and thought she would lose consciousness, Doxtader said.
She bit him, the prosecutor said, and he threw her into a closet, picked her up by the hair and forced her back into the bedroom, where he later demanded they have sex.
[. . .]
He began abusing the alleged victim, an 11-year veteran of the state police, about two years into their six-year relationship, Doxtader said.
Defense attorney Richard Rafferty said that the allegations were false and that she was angry because the couple was going to buy a house but Sundberg wanted to end the relationship.
“He’s sitting in jail on a false allegation,” he said.
Rafferty claimed that the victim pushed his client, and he fell into a closet.
They both went to work on Saturday, he said, and she went to a party that night.
There was no bite mark found on Sundberg, Rafferty said, and no sign of a struggle was found in the bathroom.
When she asked Cremens for a restraining order today, the alleged victim said Sundberg has a history of abuse that got progressively worse over time.
“Every time I confronted him, he said he didn’t remember anything,” she told the judge.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/04/prosecutor_state_trooper_had_abused_trooper_girlfriend_for_years

Prosecutor: State trooper had abused trooper girlfriend for years
Marie Szaniszlo
Monday, April 25, 2016
Boston Herald

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