By Gary V. Murray
Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER, Mass. — A part-time Rutland police officer remained in custody without bail yesterday after pleading not guilty to rape, kidnapping and assault charges.
Jason D. Briddon, 36, of Westminster, was awaiting trial in Worcester Superior Court on 2007 rape and assault charges when he was indicted last month on additional charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault Oct. 9. A grand jury returned indictments Oct. 24 charging him with seven counts of aggravated rape, single counts of aggravated kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (shod foot)and five counts of assault and battery.
The new charges relate to allegations that Mr. Briddon, on administrative leave from his part-time police job, repeatedly raped and assaulted a woman Oct. 9 while holding her against her will in the basement of a house on Burncoat Street.
Assistant District Attorney Paula J. Frasso told Judge Peter W. Agnes Jr. during Mr. Briddon’s arraignment yesterday morning in Worcester Superior Court that Mr. Briddon drove the woman to the Burncoat Street residence after the two reached “an agreement for sexual favors.”
Over the next 2-1/2 hours, Mr. Briddon allegedly punched and kicked the woman and “raped her at least seven different times,” accordingto Ms. Frasso.
At one point, the woman tried to throw herself through a plate-glass window to escape, but was restrained by Mr. Briddon, Ms. Frasso said. When Mr. Briddon eventually agreed to give the woman a ride home,she ran to a nearby house and asked for help, according to the prosecutor.
Mr. Briddon was arrested during the early morning hours of Oct. 9 on Burncoat Street after the woman identified him from a photograph as her attacker, Ms. Frasso said during an earlier court hearing.
She told Judge Agnes yesterday that the woman was “seriously injured” and treated at the hospital for bruises to her head, face and neck.
At the time of his arrest on the new charges, Mr. Briddon was freeon personal recognizance on charges of raping and assaulting anotherwoman in April 2007. The woman in that case told investigators she was drugged and violently raped by one of four men she met at a bar who told her they were Worcester police officers.
Authorities later found that no city police officers were involved.
When Mr. Briddon was arraigned on the new charges Oct. 9 in Central District Court, Judge Vito A. Virzi revoked Mr. Briddon’s release on personal recognizance on the older charges and ordered that he be held without bail for up to 60 days. Judge Virzi set $100,000 cash bail on the new charges.
His indictment last month moved the new charges against Mr. Briddon to Worcester Superior Court, where the older charges also were pending. Judge Agnes set a Feb. 23 trial date yesterday on the older caseand continued both sets of charges to Dec. 5.
Judge Agnes set $25,000 cash bail on the new charges, despite Ms. Frasso’s request that the bail remain at $100,000 cash. Judge Agnes left Judge Virzi’s bail revocation in place, which means Mr. Briddon will remain in custody without bail on the older set of charges until at least Dec. 5, when the 60 days will expire and a bail hearing willbe held.
In the event Mr. Briddon posts bail after Dec. 5, he is to remain under house arrest with a GPS monitoring device under Judge Agnes’ order. The judge also ordered Mr. Briddon to surrender any firearm, firearm identification card or license to carry a firearm he may possessas a condition of his release.
Judge Agnes accepted Ms. Frasso’s recommendation that the city of Worcester be an “exclusion zone” for Mr. Briddon if he posts bail.
Mr. Briddon’s lawyer, Anthony M. Salerno, had argued for Mr. Briddon’s release from custody on electronic monitoring so he could seek employment to support his wife and two children. Mr. Salerno told Judge Agnes that his client lost his job with RTA Transit Services Inc. while being held in custody since his Oct. 9 arrest.
Mr. Salerno also told the judge that the two cases against Mr. Briddon “have very unusual facts around them” and “a lot of issues on each side.”
Copyright 2008 Telegram & Gazette