By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Just a day before the ballots were scheduled to be printed, Michael W. Newman, the independent candidate for City Council-At-Large, announced he is withdrawing from the upcoming election.

The letter, dated and received on Tuesday by Registrar Kenneth Magill, simply states, “As an independent candidate for Council-at-Large, I am withdrawing from this election and am asking that my name be taken off the ballot also.”
Newman’s decision comes in the wake of a published report that detailed his arrest and conviction on charges that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend during a domestic quarrel last January. Newman has since filed an appeal.
When reached on Thursday, Newman said that his reasons were “personal.” However, he did admit that the negative publicity surrounding the arrest was a key factor in the decision. He also said he thought the matter would have been too much of a distraction for him to continue on with his campaign.
“With publicity like that, I think it’s best I pull out,” he said. He also categorized the leaking of the arrest information to the press as a “low move” on the part “of whoever” did it.
Magill said that while the ballots had already been delivered to the printer, he was able to place a phone call to have
Newman’s name removed as he requested.
Newman, a retired deputy sheriff, was one of five candidates running on November 4 for three City Council-At-Large seats. Now, the race will be between Joel M. Tirrell, the lone Republican candidate, and the three top-voter getters in the Democratic Primary: Albert J. Vitali Jr., Lorenzo C. Tetreault and Thomas E. Hodge.
Newman, 53, was arrested last January 27 at around 7:15 p.m. after police were called to the home that he shared with his longtime girlfriend on Green Lane Road. The victim told police that the two began arguing after she found a marijuana pipe on a chair that he had just got up from. She said she warned him that she didn’t want him smoking marijuana in the house and threatened to call 911. However, she said that when she went upstairs to use the phone, he hung it up so she could not call the police.
The victim said she ran outside and began yelling for help, but that Newman follower her, tackled her from behind and pulled the pipe out of her hands. She said she sustained minor cuts to her hand and knee and damaged her eyeglasses in the scuffle.
Pawtucket Police arrested Newman and charged him with domestic--assault and battery and failure to relinquish a telephone in an emergency. A non-contact order was also issued for the victim.
Following a District Court trial on June 6 before Judge Madeline Quirk, Newman was found guilty on the misdemeanor assault charge, and not guilty of the telephone use charge. However, he has filed an appeal in Superior Court seeking a jury trial, so the conviction has been vacated.
Newman, who was freed on personal recognizance, said, “I believe I will be vindicated” in the upcoming jury trial.