Smithfield Police Arrest Domestic Assault Suspect for Speeding

A Johnston man remains held without bail following his fourth arrest on domestic violence charges, after Smithfield Police arrested him for speeding on Oct. 5.

Johnston Police reported that officers took custody of David Rossi, 29, of 15 South Fairview St., at about 7 am on an active warrant for his arrest.

According to Smithfield Police Capt. Michael Rheaume, a local officer pulled over Rossi's car at about 2 am after recording it traveling 52 mph in a 35-mph zone on Pleasant View Avenue.

The Johnston warrant stemmed from a Sept. 8 report alleging that Rossi assaulted and bit the face of his girlfriend, Rebecca George, at her home on Greenville Avenue.

Johnston officers presented Rossi for arraignment on Oct. 5 in Third District Court, Warwick, where Judge Jeanne Lafazia ordered Rossi held on $25,000 bail, and on Oct. 11, Superior Court Magistrate John F. McBurney III ordered Rossi held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions, Warwick, for violating terms of probation set after his May, 2011, no-contest pleas to two counts of violating a no-contact order and an earlier charge of domestic trespassing.

Johnston Police arrested Rossi twice within five weeks in early 2011, the first time after he broke into George's home on New Year's Day, and the second after he went to her home in violation of a no-contact order on Feb. 9.

Rossi is due for a violation hearing on Oct. 18, and a pre-arraignment conference on the new charge on Dec. 7.