A Haverhill, Massachusetts, police officer is facing charges after a woman alleged he threw a water bottle at her during an argument over a dating app alert.
Carlos Arriaga, 48, has been charged with assault and battery on a family/household member and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the Aug. 7 incident.
Arriaga was arraigned at Newburyport District Court Friday morning. He has been placed on administrative leave, according to the office of Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini.
Court documents say the alleged victim called police from a home on Standish Road near Pilgrim Road and stated she was being attacked. Arriaga called police at the same time, requesting a supervisor to come to his home.
The woman told responding officers the two were in bed when Arriaga recieved an alert from Match.com on his phone. They began arguing, the documents say, and she claimed she began gathering her belongings to leave.
Arriaga told police that he had recieved Gmail notifications on his phone, which angered the woman.
She claimed Arriaga was acting "all crazy" and punching the windows of her vehicle as she tried to leave, according to the documents.
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The woman told police that Arriaga opened a car door, allowing her belongings to fall out. She claimed he threw the belongings back into the car, which is when she said she was struck around her right eyebrow with a metal water bottle. She told police she felt the water bottle was thrown at her intentionally.
Arriaga claimed the woman was backing out of the garage in a way that might hit the garage door jam or a vehicle in the driveway and that he opened the door to yell at her to pull back into the garage and straighten out the vehicle before pulling out.
Police said there was "no observable redness" in the area of the woman's right eyebrow, according to the documents.
She declined medical attention at the scene before leaving, police said.
Fiorentini told the Eagle Tribune that Arriaga had been placed on paid leave pending an investigation.
