Police: Newport Woman Rips Man's Shirt, Knocks his Coffee in Attack

Thirty-year-old Jessica Francis Costa of Newport is charges of domestic simple assault and domestic vandalism for assaulting a city man in his Broadway store on Thursday, police allege.

Police said Costa went into the store at around 8:45 a.m. and demanded $100 that she said she is owed. When he refused, she grabbed his shirt and would not let go, according to a police report.

Costa then left the store and went next door to ask the adjacent business owner to call police. The victim had a cup of coffee in his hand which Costa reportedly “smacked out of his hand on the sidewalk in front of his shop,” police said.

Police responded and found the victim wearing a ripped shirt with fresh scratches on his face and a bruised left eye that police said was from an incident with Costa the night before.. During that incident, Costa allegedly smashed the victim’s iPhone.

Costa reportedly was combative with officers at the scene and yelled “yah, go ahead and ruff me up,” but she was arrested without incident.

Costa was released on surety bail after her initial appearance in Second Division District Court. She is due to return to court on May 27 for a pretrial conference.

JUVENILE ARRESTED
A 14-year-old juvenile was charged with simple assault on Thursday night after she allegedly kicked a group home staff member.

Police said the juvenile allegedly kicked the staff member at a city group home at around 7 p.m. following a dispute over offensive music she allegedly was playing on her radio.

Staff members told police that the juvenile was asked to turn off the music several times. When she ignored them, a staff member tried to take the radio away. She then kicked him several times in the shins.

The juvenile was taken into custody without incident. The matter will be adjudicated in Family Court.