Juan Rivera-Ortiz, age 36, of 9 Terrace St., Apt. 1, Nashua

NASHUA – A domestic altercation police said broke out at halftime of Sunday’s Super Bowl landed a 48-year-old woman in the intensive care unit of a local hospital, and prompted the arrest of a 36-year-old man said to be her boyfriend, according to police reports.

Juan Rivera-Ortiz, of 9 Terrace St., Apt. 1, told police the woman’s injuries – which police said included a fractured jaw, facial lacerations, missing teeth and marks on her neck – were caused by a TV remote control, which he said he threw at the woman during an argument. The remote bounced off the couch, Ortiz told police, and struck the woman in the head.

He told police he then went into another room, and when he returned, the woman “was kneeling on the floor holding her face.” According to his statements to police, Ortiz helped the woman into the bathroom, where he “cleaned her of blood,” police reported.

As for the marks found on the woman’s neck, Ortiz allegedly told police that he “never strangled” her, allegedly adding that the marks on her neck were kissing marks.

Police, after further investigation, arrested Ortiz around 11:30 p.m. Sunday and charged him with two counts of second-degree assault – domestic violence, and one count of falsifying physical evidence, all Class B felonies, and one count of criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor.

At Ortiz’s arraignment and bail hearing the next day in Superior Court, Assistant County Attorney Brett Harpster recommended that Ortiz be held on preventive detention, citing the seriousness of the alleged victim’s injuries and what he called Ortiz’s significant criminal history that, according to Harpster, includes 33 convictions, most of them assault-related.

However, attorney Ryan Guptill, who represented Ortiz, said his client “has made no admissions” and has a different version of the alleged events that night.

Guptill also told the court that one of the two other people present, described as a friend of the alleged victim, “never heard a struggle or a fight.”

In asking for personal recognizance bail for Ortiz, Guptill argued that “the state has not met its burden” to show clear and convincing evidence that Ortiz, if released from custody, would pose a danger to the alleged victim or other members of the public.

Harpster promptly disputed the assertion. “We have a woman in the intensive care unit with her jaw wired, and unable to talk,” he said.

Judge N. William Delker, a Hillsborough County North judge filling in at Hillsborough South, said he found “clear and convicing evidence” that Ortiz would pose a danger if released. He also cited Ortiz’s “extensive criminal history,” and commented that Ortiz’s version of the events “doesn’t come close to explaining how (the alleged victim) got those injuries.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256, or at dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter