Former Pawtucket police officer accused of assaulting, raping girlfriend



A former Pawtucket police officer who resigned after allegations of assaulting a girlfriend while on duty has been charged with raping and trying to strangle another girlfriend at his apartment in North Smithfield.
Stephen Ricco, 40, is being held without bail after a Pawtucket woman accused him of attacking, raping and biting her during a violent argument in the early hours of Thanksgiving.
When neighbors at the High Rocks mill building heard the argument and banged on the walls, Ricco told her not to answer the door if the police arrived, according to an affidavit. When he finally drove her home, Ricco ordered her not to call the police, the affidavit said.
She didn’t call — she walked into the North Smithfield police station that day. Ricco was arrested Thursday and arraigned Friday on felony domestic violence charges of rape and strangling, as well as misdemeanor charges of domestic disorderly conduct and simple assault.
North Smithfield police didn’t return a call about the case on Tuesday, but details are revealed in affidavits accompanying search warrants written by Detective Russell Ridge III.
The police seized anabolic steroids, pills and unopened syringes, among other items, from Ricco’s apartment in the building at 1 Tupperware Drive.
The woman told the police that Ricco was her “on-and-off boyfriend.” (The Journal does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.)
The woman told the police that Ricco picked her up from her job in Pawtucket late Wednesday night, brought her to her apartment to change clothes, and then drove them to a tavern in North Smithfield for drinks.
After 1 a.m., they went to Denny’s restaurant in North Smithfield, where she said Ricco started to slam things on the table. That was when she decided she wanted to go home.
She told the police that she asked Ricco numerous times to take her home. Instead, he drove her to his apartment, where they got into an argument that turned violent, the affidavit said. “Ricco began to choke her with his hands around her neck, causing her to be unable to breath(e),” the affidavit said. When the neighbors banged on the walls, Ricco released her and shut off the lights, telling her not to answer the door.
The woman said she went into the upstairs bathroom and called Ricco’s ex-wife, telling her she was scared. She said the ex-wife hung up on her.
The woman said that Ricco overheard the conversation and attacked her again — this time, holding her down in the bedroom, biting her face and raping her, the affidavit said.
The woman said she eventually persuaded Ricco to take her home.
This is the second time this year that Ricco has been accused of domestic violence.
Ricco was suspended from the Pawtucket Police Department in February and later resigned after a girlfriend accused him of violence — including drawing his service weapon and telling her to kill him. She obtained a temporary restraining order against him.
Pawtucket police charged Ricco with domestic assault, which was dismissed. Instead, Ricco pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and was told to attend anger-management counseling.
Ricco’s lawyer, former House Speaker John B. Harwood, didn’t return a call from The Journal on Tuesday afternoon.