New Bedford Man With Long History of Domestic Violence Sentenced

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — A New Bedford man with a long history of domestic violence has been sentenced to serve five to seven years in state prison for assaulting, kidnapping and terrorizing his girlfriend.

According to Bristol County District Attorney Tom Quinn, Anthony Medeiros, 48, pled guilty to indictments charging him with two counts of domestic assault and battery, two counts of larceny of a motor vehicle, one count of kidnapping, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, six counts of unlawful possession of a high capacity feeding device, and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition.

The charges stem back to February 1 of this year, when Medeiros and the victim were eating dinner at his home and he abruptly asked for her phone.

“He began to look through her phone, accused her of cheating, and smashed the victim’s phone onto the ground. He then punched the victim in the head, grabbed the victim by the back of her neck and pinned her against a wall mirror,” the D.A.’s Office said. “The defendant instructed her to take off her jewelry because he had given it to her. He then began to pull at her watch and bracelets and instructed her to give him her jacket and her sneakers.”

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Medeiros then took the keys to the vehicles and would not let the victim leave the apartment for about an hour, before then driving her in her vehicle to ABC Disposal, his former place of employment.

He pulled around back to a wooded area with multiple dumpsters, pulled her from the vehicle and asked if she was ready to die for “roughly 30 minutes,” according to the D.A.’s Office. He then drove her home but kept her vehicle, and came back the next morning and took her other vehicle.

The victim contacted police and told them Medeiros was in possession of multiple firearms; this led to a four-hour standoff between Medeiros and New Bedford Police at his County Street home.

A search warrant was eventually executed at his home and turned up a Norinco 5.56 Assault Rifle, a Bushmaster .22 Assault Rifle, both of which the D.A.’s Office said accept high-capacity magazines, and over 900 rounds of ammunition. The firearms were found unsecured and the Medeiros does not have a license to carry them.

According to the D.A.’s Office, Medeiros has a 13-page criminal record, “which includes convictions for threats, witness intimidation, restraining order violations, assaults and gun crimes,” and that “it appears that 11 separate restraining orders have been filed against him locally.”

“These are outrageous acts of violence committed by the defendant for no rational reason,” District Attorney Quinn said. “The defendant is a menace who has a history of violence and violating restraining orders. He needs to be kept off the street to protect the victim and the public from him.”