A former college police officer is behind bars after he allegedly battered the woman he was living with by pointing a gun at her head and causing multiple bruises on her face and limbs, according to Plymouth police.
Robert Coppage, 60, of Plymouth, was working as a campus security officer at Massasoit Community College in Brockton when he was charged on October 28 with a dozen criminal counts.
Coppage had been a campus police officer for almost 19 years before he suffered a heart attack on Feb. 6, 2018, according to public records. He became “permanently incapacitated,” and left the job on Nov. 13, 2018, according to a state official, who in rejecting his bid for an accidental disability pension, described him as “a longtime, diligent officer.”
He returned to the school this year as an “Institution Security Officer,” according to Massasoit spokesman Alex Villanueva. Those officers— who are distinct from campus police officers — do not carry firearms and cannot make arrests.
Since his arrest, Coppage “is no longer employed at the College,” Villanueva said in an email.
Coppage faces a host of charges, including strangulation, threats to commit murder and assault and battery on a household member. He and the alleged victim lived together in Plymouth for almost two years, according to the police report.
Coppage was ordered held without bail on October 31 by Plymouth District Court Judge James Sullivan. He cited the woman’s “detailed statements” alleging “physical assaults, strangulation and threats with a firearm.
“Many of the injuries were corroborated by observations by the police,” he wrote.
Coppage is being held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility instead of in Plymouth, where he once served as a deputy sheriff, according to a spokeswoman for Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald.
He appealed the judge’s bail finding. A Superior Court judge is scheduled to hear his appeal Friday.
Coppage’s lawyer, Krysten Condon, declined to comment, except to say that “everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”
Plymouth police reports describe a disturbing pattern of alleged violence that played out over several months prior to the arrest.
The alleged victim didn’t call police — her mother did, according to the police.
The woman, who the Independent is not naming because she’s an alleged victim of domestic violence, told police the abuse occurred frequently and included punching, strangling and hair pulling.
Late last month, she posted photos on Facebook showing “documentary images of my survival.” They included black and blue marks on her face, a swollen eye, and scratches and bruises on a hand, arm and legs.
The photos, posted in late October, were also sent anonymously to the Independent.
The woman could not be reached for comment.
When Coppage learned about the Facebook photos, he became enraged, the woman told police.
On October 25, she told police, he ordered her to take the photos down. When she refused, the woman said, Coppage allegedly grabbed her phone and smashed it onto the ground, destroying it.
He also climbed on top of her while she was in bed and clenched his hands around her throat, threatening to kill her, she told police.
Later, when he got home from work, Coppage slapped her multiple times, she told police.
The next day, she said, he grabbed her by the neck and shoved the back of her head into a wall — so hard that it left a dent in the wall — a mark a Plymouth police officer reported that he could see.
She told police that in March Coppage pointed a loaded handgun at her head and threatened to shoot her. The gun grazed her forehead, she said. He then allegedly unloaded the weapon and showed her the ammunition.
The alleged victim said Coppage had two firearms, one a silver handgun, which he had owned for a long time. Theother handgun had been recently purchased.
After Plymouth police interviewed the woman, they contacted Coppage at work to ask him to come to the station. When he said he couldn’t leave because his department was “short staffed,” Massasoit police placed him in custody.
He was brought to the Plymouth police station, where he was booked, and his license to carry a firearm was seized and suspended, police said.
After he was released, Plymouth police removed the guns from his home.
The woman, who was treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, obtained an emergency restraining order that bars Coppage from contacting or abusing her, or showing up at her home or workplace. That order was issued before the judge determined that Coppage should not be released from jail.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.