Juan Tenorio allegedly beats up teenage driver

Former lawmaker Juan I. Tenorio was arrested on Saturday for allegedly assaulting a male teenage driver in Marpi on Thursday afternoon.

Tenorio was served with an arrest warrant for assault and battery and disturbing the peace.

On Thursday, medics responded and treated the 19-year-old for minor injuries to the face. He also had a bloodied nose, Saipan Tribune learned.

Police said the victim was an Asian male. It was not immediately clear if he was a tourist.

Department of Public Safety acting spokesman Jason Tarkong said the suspect, described as an “elderly local male,” was identified but his name was withheld pending his arrest or the filing of criminal charges.

Sources revealed yesterday that the suspect is Tenorio and that he was arrested on Saturday.

Tarkong said preliminary police investigation showed that the victim was driving his car with two passengers along Chalan Pale Arnold Road going north.

Tarkong said the teenager got into a confrontation with the suspect, who was in a white car traveling in the same direction.

After the confrontation, the suspect followed the teenager’s car that proceeded to the parking lot of Marianas Trekking in Marpi.

The suspect got out and allegedly punched the teenager in the face twice.

Tarkong said several bystanders saw the assault.

Police were called but the suspect fled before the officers arrived at the scene.

Tarkong said that based on the evidence gathered and statements from eyewitnesses, the suspect has been identified.

Police placed the incident under further investigation.

In September 2013, Tenorio was acquitted of charges that he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in May 2010.

After deliberating for less than two hours, six Superior Court jurors rendered a unanimous verdict finding the then-64-year-old Tenorio not guilty of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree.

Associate Judge David A. Wiseman, who decided on the misdemeanor charges, also found Tenorio not guilty of assault and battery and disturbing the peace.

Wiseman said he found the girl a credible witness, but that he could not ignore the defendant’s testimony that the touching of the girl’s privates was not knowingly done.

Tenorio is the human resources manager for Grandvrio Resort, the former Hafadai Beach Hotel.