Veteran MA State Trooper Held Without Bail After Domestic Dispute And Violence

Massachusetts State Police Officer Corey D. Benoit

[From article]
A veteran state trooper is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing to determine how he busted his girlfriend's collar bone during a birthday bash that ended with her in the hospital, according to authorities.
State Trooper Corey D. Benoit, who turned 36 yesterday, appeared in Gardner District Court this morning with alleged bite marks on his neck and mouth, but got no sympathy from Judge Arthur Haley, who ordered the 210-pound officer to remain behind bars until a hearing set for Wednesday.
Benoit, an Army Reserve veteran whose lawyer said he served tours in Iraq and Kuwait, pleaded not guilty to a single charge of domestic assault and battery. Attorney Leonard Kesten said his "recently divorced" client's live-in love, Nichole Poirier, declined to seek a restraining order.
According to a four-page police report written by Benoit's own department, an off-duty trooper and party guest who witnessed the dust-up told investigators Benoit "violently slammed" Poirier into a wall and then "destroyed the house."



Responding troopers noted shattered dishes in the kitchen, food on the floor, a busted staircase railing, "a large hole in the wall" on the second floor, a broken pool table and "scattered alcoholic beverages throughout the home."
"It was an argument over the volume of the stereo at about 2 in the morning," Kesten said of yesterday's incident at the couple's home in Royalston, where two other off-duty troopers were guests and Benoit's two kids were staying over.
"She kissed him and bit him really hard on the lip and on the neck. He pushed her away, she hit the wall and apparently broke her collar bone," he said. "There was alcohol involved. It was a party. But he didn't punch her. There was no fight. It was a bite followed by a push. If he wasn't a state trooper, there would be no dangerousness hearing."

[. . .]

Kesten told reporters Benoit and Poirier have been together for a little over a year.
"He has 10 years on the job," Kesten said. "A perfect record."
Benoit has been temporarily relieved of active duty, and Dave Procopio, a State Police spokesman, said officials will hold a hearing on Thursday to determine if his status changes. State Police initially had scheduled the hearing for tomorrow, but shifted it to take into account the results of the dangerousness hearing.
It's unclear how officials will handle Benoit, but historically, troopers accused of a violent crime have faced suspension without pay while the case plays out in court.
State Police also seized close to a dozen firearms from Benoit's house, including two department-issued handguns and his personal collection of rifles and shotguns.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/herald_bulldog/2015/08/state_trooper_held_on_domestic_assault_charge

State trooper held on domestic assault charge
Monday, August 3, 2015
By: Laurel J. Sweet
Boston Herald