COATESVILLE HOMICIDE VICTIM HAD RECORD

COATESVILLE - The man shot and killed in Coatesville last night wasn't exactly a stranger to police, as he had two open cases in District Court and was on parole for a 2007 assault in West Chester.

Pierce Elliot Rivera, 22, of Coatesville, was shot in the head at around 16:30 Thursday afternoon on the 100 block of Penrose Alley near Walnut Street. He was flown to Reading Hosptial where he was pronounced dead a few hours later.

Rivera was on parole for a January 19, 2007 assault that occured on the 500 block of West Market Street in which he and his girlfriend assaulted a 17 year old male with a bottle. Rivera was initially sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months at CCP for that offense (CP-15-CR-0000734-2007).

Rivera's assault occured three days after he was paroled from CCP after pleading gulty to a misdemeanor count of Defiant Trespassing after an incident in Coatesville on July 9, 2006; Rivera had served 3 1/2 months at CCP on that case (CP-15-CR-0003105-2006).

Rivera also had been previously arrested and convicted on a criminal charge in Nassau County, N.Y., however information regarding that case is not readily available.

Rivera also had run-ins with Coatesville Police last year.

Rivera was arrested on October 21, 2008 and charged with PWID. Bail in that case was set at 10 percent of $2,500, which he posted after his arraignment the following morning (15-1-03, CR-0000287-09).

Five days later, Rivera was again arrested by Coatesville Police. He was charged with Burglary, Criminal Trespassing, REAP, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Disorderly Conduct, and two traffic offenses. He was then committed to CCP after failing to post $5,000 cash bail (15-1-03, CR-0000291-09).

Charges in both of the Coatesville cases were dismissed by Coatesville District Judge Robert Davis on November 5, 2008 due to an apparent "lack of prosecution" (ie. the officers and/or witnesses apparently failed to appear).

Rivera was also facing two separate criminal cases at the District Court level.

On August 17, State Police at Embreeville filed charges of Accidents Involving Death or Personal Injury, Accidents Involving Damage to Attended Vehicle or Property, and three other traffic offenses after an alleged hit-and-run accident in West Bradford. The case had gone to warrant, but it did not appear as though it was executed (15-2-06, CR-0000417-09).

Three days later, Ofc. Steve Parkinson of the Caln Police filed DUI charges against Rivera in Thorndale District Court. Rivera was scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on September 28, however, Rivera reportedly failed to appear for court (15-4-02, CR-0000224-09).

Police are still searching for suspects in the homicide, which is the third reported homicide in the county in 2009 and the first in the city since the double homicide late last year. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Coatesville Police at (610) 384-2300.