Taunton Man Who Beat Wife Sentenced to Prison

A 40-year-old Taunton man who violently assaulted his wife while she was driving with their infant child in the back seat was sentenced to three years in state prison.

Michael Cubero appeared in Fall River Superior Court on Wednesday and admitted to  aggravated assault and battery and assault and battery on a family or household member, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

On April 4, 2019, at around 3 p.m., Taunton Police were dispatched to Harrison Street for a report of a woman bleeding from the mouth and screaming that her husband hit her. The victim told officers that she had been driving to a gas station with her husband in the passenger seat and the baby in the back seat when her husband began arguing with her about which gas station to drive to.

She told police her husband grabbed the wheel to steer into Grampy’s gas station. When she pushed his hand away, he backhanded her in the mouth and broke her front tooth. He then fled the car with her cell phone. The victim got out of the car and yelled for help. An ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital, where her parents met her. While at the hospital, her husband texted her through her fathers’ phone, telling her not to press charges or he would go back to jail.  He told her to prohibit anyone from taking photos of her injuries, and that he would kill himself if she didn't comply, the DA's office said in a media release.

Police used the victim's Find My iPhone application to locate the defendant and he was arrested at a bar in Taunton. The defendant told police that she had knocked her own tooth out and that they were wasting their time because she would come bail him out. The victim, at first cooperative with prosecutors, soon became uncooperative, according to the Bristol County DA.

At the time of the incident, the defendant was on probation for a 2015 stabbing in New Bedford.

"While out on probation for another violent offense, the defendant committed a serious act of violence against the victim.  Despite the victim trying to undermine the case, we were able to secure a conviction that will keep him off the street for up to four years. The defendant has a violent history and clearly is a danger to the community," District Attorney Quinn said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill and the prison sentence was imposed by Judge Thomas Perrino.