Cop on leave after domestic battery arrest

Woman sustains cuts from tossed TV remote, report says.

BOYNTON BEACH — A Boynton Beach police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest thi s week on a charge of domestic battery.

Vinic ius Melo, 34, was booked into the Palm Beach C o u n t y J a i l o n Wedne s - day, records show. He was released Thursday on his own recognizance.

“This is an active administrative investigation and we are precluded from commenting any further,” said police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater.

Melo was hired by the department in December 2008, said Andrea Javier of the city’s Human Resources department.

Ac c o rd i n g t o a p ro b a - ble-cause affidavit released t h i s we e k , P a l m B e a c h County sheriff ’s deputies were called to Melo’s home late Tuesday in response to a 911 hangup. Deputies later spoke with a woman who said she got into a fight with Melo and he already left the scene.

The woman had a cut on her left cheek that ran over the top of her nose, according to the affidavit. She told police Melo appeared to be drunk and had thrown a TV remote control at her.

T h e a f f i d av i t s a i d t h e device hit the woman in the face and caused her left eye to swell shut. She went to the bathroom to look at her face, but Melo grabbed her in a “bear hug” and wouldn’t let her go. She tried to call 911 but Melo stopped her, she told deputies. She was eventually able to do so.

At Melo’s first-appearance hearing Thursday at the jail, Judge Dina Keever-Agrama ordered that he not possess any weapons, use either alcohol or drugs and have no contact with the victim, court records show. His next hearing is scheduled for June 12.