Fall River cop on sick leave arrested on assault charges in Swansea


On brink of termination hearing, Eduardo Raposo quits the police force. Fall River police lieutenant has retired in the wake of his recent arrest in Swansea, where he is accused of assaulting his wife and waving a handgun in the air during a domestic dispute last week.
Eduardo Raposo, 56, of 5 Kensington Court in Swansea, is currently being held without bail. He appeared Monday for a dangerousness hearing in Fall River District Court, but Judge Gilbert Nadeau said he would delay until Wednesday a ruling on whether to hold Raposo without bail for 90 days.
Raposo, a 26-year member of the Fall River Police Department who was most recently assigned to the department’s records division, is charged with carrying a firearm while intoxicated, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
After learning of Raposo’s recent arrest — which is at least the third occasion in which Raposo was criminally charged during his law enforcement career — Fall River Police Chief Daniel Racine said he immediately suspended Raposo’s license to carry a firearm and began the process for a termination hearing.
“To say I am disturbed about this latest incident would be a gross understatement,” Racine said. “The conduct detailed by the Swansea Police Department is disturbing and will not be tolerated by the Fall River Police Department.”
Racine added that the Fall River Retirement Board notified him on May 15 that Raposo had retired effective immediately, removing Raposo from the Fall River Police Department’s purview of rules, regulations and disciplinary procedures.
“However, his criminal charges remain in full force and effect, and we will monitor the case and assist Swansea police and prosecutors if requested,” Racine said.
On May 14, around 9:30 p.m., Swansea police officers responded to a report of domestic violence at Raposo’s home. There, the officers said they saw Raposo’s wife crying hysterically and running down the house’s driveway. She was accompanied by her son, who was armed with a pipe he said he grabbed for self-defense, according to court documents.
Raposo’s wife and her son told police that Raposo, who had been recently out of work on sick leave, was drinking heavily that day. They said Raposo kicked a bathroom door into his wife, causing her to fall to the floor, and then began waving his gun in the air, according to court documents.
While being interviewed, Raposo’s wife begged the police officers not to arrest Raposo, and said several times that she was scared he would lose his pension and shoot himself, according to court documents.
“He kicked me but he didn’t mean it. ... Please, we will just leave,” Raposo’s wife said, according to court documents.