Man, woman both arrested in stabbing incident

WOONSOCKET – Two people are being held at the state prison after a man was twice stabbed in the back by a girlfriend who had a restraining order against him.

Jennifer Lee Lapointe, 43, and Alan Ferreira, 49, both of 401 Bernon St., were arrested after police responded to their apartment about 11 Tuesday night. Police said Lapointe told them she grabbed a knife in the midst of a heated argument with Ferreira and stabbed him, at which point he fled the apartment.

Police looked for Ferreira in the neighborhood, to no avail. After taking Lapointe into custody, however, they made a point of leaving the apartment door unlocked, suspecting he’d return.

About 90 minutes later, police circled back to 401 Bernon St. and found the doors

not as they’d left them, but locked. No one answered when they knocked, so they forced their way in and found Ferreira in a bedroom closet, “intoxicated and uncooperative,” according to Officer Evan Puopolo’s report.

Ferreira had two stab wounds – one in his neck and another in his lower back. He was transported by rescue squad to Landmark Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries and discharged to police custody.

Despite an active court order prohibiting him from having any contact with Lapointe, she told police the two of them were involved in “a substantive relationship,” according to reports. But Ferreira gave another story, telling investigators he was just visiting a relative on the third floor of the Bernon Street multi-family when he ran into Lapointe, who lives downstairs. He said their relationship was on ice, but Lapointe offered him an ultimatum.

“We are either staying together or you’re dying,” Lapointe allegedly told him.

Ferreira said he was trying to leave the building when Lapointe stabbed him from behind.

According to police reports and court records, Ferreira has an extensive police record of narcotics offenses, domestic violence and related crimes. The latest charge represents his third offense for violating a no contact order.

When Ferreira appeared in Sixth District Court Wednesday, a judge set bail on the charge at $5,000 with surety, but Ferreira was ordered held as a probation violator at the Adult Correctional Institutions on a 2016 conviction for felony domestic assault, according to the judiciary’s web site.

The judge set bail for Lapointe, who has no prior criminal history, at $2,500 with surety, or $250 cash. She, too, was remanded to the ACI, however, apparently because she was unable to post the necessary sum to be released.

Ferreira is due back in court on Dec. 19.