By Ted Hayes

An assault charge filed against a former Tiverton Town Council member earlier this year has been dropped by the prosecution.

Joseph Robert Sousa, 64, of 49 Hancock St., Apt. 3, was arrested by Tiverton police on Tuesday, April 1 on breaking and entering of a dwelling of a person 60 years or older, and simple assault.

According to state court records, those charges were later reduced to a single charge of simple assault, and that charge was marked 48A (dismissed by the prosecution) on Thursday, August 7.

Sousa, a landlord, was arrested after a tenant in a property he owns claimed he pushed him with enough force to push him into a counter.

Sousa told police that the tenant had previously been evicted, and provided a hand-written letter of eviction, saying that the tenant ha

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