PROVIDENCE — A suspended Providence, Rhode Island police captain who was seen on video slamming a handcuffed man’s head to the pavement last summer was sentenced to a year of probation on Thursday.
Stephen J. Gencarella pleaded no contest to a charge of simple assault after he was charged over the arrest of 21-year-old Armando Riva during a city fireworks show on July 3, 2022.
Video posted online showed a handcuffed Rivas lying prone on the ground while Gencarella and another officer detained him. At one point in the video, Gencarella appeared to lift up Rivas’ head by the hair and slam his face forcefully to the ground.
He received the probation sentence and a no-contact order during an appearance Thursday before Judge Anthony Capraro in District Court, Providence.
The video sparked harsh criticism and calls for then-Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and the city’s police chief to recommend Gencarella be fired.
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Rivas allegedly refused to remove a parked Jeep Cherokee from the travel lane of the nearby on-ramp to Interstate 195, according to police.
Gencarella and the other police officer struggled to get Rivas into handcuffs, a police report said. Gencarella’s lawyer, Michael Colucci, had previously argued that the use of force was reasonable, telling reporters that Rivas remained a threat even after he was handcuffed.
On July 5, the first business day that followed his holiday weekend arrest, Rivas pleaded no contest to resisting arrest, obstructing an officer and double counts of simple assault. District Court Judge Melissa Dubose ordered Rivas to serve a year of probation.
Gencarella, who was charged in August, previously pleaded not guilty.
Later, Providence police moved to fire Gencarella through a process governed by the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights, accusing him of six violations of rules, regulations, policies and standards of conduct, including violations related to the department’s use of force policy.
On Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Michael McCabe asked Capraro to sentence Gencarella to a suspended one-year prison term, as well as a year of probation and a no-contact order, according to Brian Hodge, a spokesman for Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha. McCabe also requested 100 hours of community service.