TAUNTON, Mass. (WPRI) — Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell on Monday pleaded not guilty to assaulting her husband at their Worcester Street home over the weekend.

She was arrested Friday and accused of biting her husband, hitting him with a gasket scraper and jumping on his car when he tried to leave, according to newly released court documents.

O’Connell, 54, was first elected mayor in 2019 and is currently serving her third term. She previously served as a Republican state representative.

She’s been charged with one misdemeanor count of assault and battery on a family member, and one felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

O’Connell appeared in Taunton District Court alongside her husband and daughter. The mayor’s attorney, James “Jay” McMahon, entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf. O’Connell was released on personal recognizance and ordered not to abuse her husband.

O’Connell refused to answer questions outside court and wouldn’t say whether she was working. Ted O’Connell, her husband and the suspected victim, stood beside his wife and said he regretted calling the police over the weekend. He also said he’d apologized to his wife, the alleged abuser.

“I apologize for calling the police, I apologize to my wife and to the people of Taunton,” he said. “It was a huge mistake.”

Court documents released Monday showed Taunton police responded to a disturbance at the mayor’s home at about 10 p.m. on Friday.

Police said Ted O’Connell was standing in the driveway when they arrived and he told officers “he and his wife were involved in an argument that ended up turning physical.”

He said it “was a marital issue,” according to a police report.

According to police, Ted O’Connell told officers his wife bit him on his left forearm and then grabbed a gasket cleaner — a tool typically used to clean debris from metal surfaces — and “struck him with it on his right hand/knuckle area.”

A photo submitted in court documents showed the bite mark, and police said they saw “multiple open wounds” on Ted O’Connell’s knuckles. Police also recovered a gasket cleaner from the home and tagged it as evidence.

Police said the husband also told them his wife jumped on the hood of his car to prevent him from leaving and police noted a smell dent on the hood, along with a bent broom in the driveway.

“Mr. O’Connell was asked if he had been struck with the broom to which he stated ‘No,'” police said.

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Police said Ted O’Connell declined medical attention and declined applying for an emergency restraining order. Police said they then went to the second floor of the home where the mayor could be heard speaking with someone from behind a closed door.

She told officers “she had no intention on opening the door,” according to police.

“While speaking through the closed door I was able to look through a small crack and observe Shuanna on the phone and she did not appear to have any injuries,” police wrote.

Eventually, police said she opened the door and sat on a bed and said she “did not know” what happened, according to police. When presented with her husband’s accusations, O’Connell continued to say she didn’t know what happened but that “her husband had been verbally abusive to her,” according to police.

Police decided at that point there was enough evidence to charge the mayor criminally. Police said she was escorted downstairs where she grabbed some shoes and was placed in handcuffs.

When leaving the residence, “she attempted to see her husband again and began yelling towards him,” according to police. Officers brought her to police headquarters where she was booked and put into a cell to await bail.

The court documents offer the first public detail of what police suspected happened over the weekend. Police refused to respond to multiple inquiries over the weekend. The mayor issued a joint statement over the weekend downplaying the issue.

“Ted and I have been married for 27 years,” O’Connell said in a statement on Saturday. “Like all couples, we have had challenges. We’ve been working through marital issues. During an argument Ted involved the police and regrets making that decision.”

The mayor is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 12.

Because O’Connell as mayor works with Taunton prosecutors, a special prosecutor will be assigned to her criminal case from a different jurisdiction to avoid a conflict of interest.

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