Cop in alleged domestic spat had two prior criminal cases

Jerome Agulto Reyes, a police officer who was arrested on Tuesday for alleged domestic violence, also faced two criminal cases in 2000 and 2004, including alleged assault of a former live-in partner, but both cases were subsequently dismissed, according to court records.

On June 7, 2000, then assistant attorney general Kevin Lynch filed an information charging Reyes with two counts of assault and battery. Lynch said the assault happened on Dec. 4 to 5, 1999, on Saipan. He named Gilbert A. Reyes and Teresita Reyes as the alleged victims.

On Nov. 8, 2000, then Superior Court associate judge Virginia Sablan-Onerhheim dismissed the case with prejudice (finality) after then assistant attorney general Keith D. Cable moved to dismiss the matter. At the time, then defense counsel and now a judge Perry B. Inos served as counsel for the defendant.

On April 5, 2004, then assistant attorney general Karen Severy filed an information charging Reyes with assault and battery and disturbing the peace. Severy alleged that the incident happened on Dec. 27, 2003. Reyes’ previous live-in partner was the alleged victim in the case.

Then defense counsel Inos also served as counsel for Reyes in that case. On Nov. 24, 2004, Inos and then assistant attorney general Jeffery L. Warfield signed a stipulation to dismiss the charges.

The parties signed the stipulation based on the government’s inability to produce a necessary witness and evidence by the scheduled trial date.

Associate Judge David A. Wiseman dismissed the case without prejudice. Dismissal without prejudice means that the prosecution can re-file a new case in the future.

Court records show that the same ex-girlfriend sought the Superior Court’s protection on Feb. 4, 2007, against Reyes pursuant to the Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Act of 2000.

In February 2007, the Department of Public Safety’s Traffic Section found Reyes at fault in a collision between a police car and a four-door sedan being driven by James S. Diaz along Middle Road in Gualo Rai on Feb. 9, 2007, at 2pm.

In the latest domestic violence case that allegedly happened on Aug. 13, 2011, Detective A. Aldan said the live-in partner reportedly sustained bruises on the right arm, left wrist, neck, rear right ear, and right side of the back.