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Derry Township police were first made aware of abuse after Luis A. Espinal-Rivera, 20, choked and punched the pregnant woman in the stomach on Apr. 9, 2022— they arrested him on Apr. 13 but he made bail on the 21, according to a release by the department and court documents.
Espinal-Rivera's violence towards the pregnant woman continued after he was released, supposedly, in an attempt to "intimidate and harass her into dropping the previous charges against him," police say.
He "punched the pregnant victim in the stomach, threatened harm to the victim and her unborn child, punched the victim in the nose, choked her, stabbed the victim with a fork, struck her with a baseball bat, and punched her in the head," on April 24, May 1, and May 2, as stated in the release.
Then, while holding an iPhone he stole from the woman, he showed up outside her home in a ski mask and began throwing things at the building on the night of May 3, according to the police.
Derry Township police were called and rearrested him around 11 p.m. that night, the department states in the release.
For the first incident he had previously been charged with
- F1 Strangulation - Applying Pressure to Throat or Neck
- F1 Aggravated Assault - Attempts to cause Serious Bodily Injury or causes injury with extreme indifference
- M1 Simple Assault
- M1 Theft By Unlawful Taking-Movable Property
For the last four incidents he was charged with the following, according to a second court docket:
- F2 Intimidate Witness or Victim- Refrain From Report
- F2 Strangulation - Applying Pressure to Throat or Neck (2 Counts)
- M1 Stalking - Repeatedly Commit Acts To Cause Fear
- M2 Simple Assault (2 Counts)
- M3 Loitering And Prowling At Night Time
- F1 Aggravated Assault - Attempts to cause Serious Bodily Injury or causes injury with extreme indifference (3 Counts)
He has been held in the Dauphin County Prison in lieu of $600,000 in bail— $100,000 for the new charges and $500,000 which was put in place May 5 on the original set of charges, court records show.
Espinal-Rivera's preliminary hearings will both be held before Magisterial District Judge Dominic A. Pelino on May 24.
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