Crime & Safety
Young Mother Struggling to Breathe; Boyfriend Held at ACI
Friends, family seek help for woman hospitalized after Dec. 13 assault.
Catherine Salvi, 24, a generous and outgoing Woonsocket mother, is fighting to breathe at Rhode Island Hospital while the man charged with putting her there waits his fate at the ACI.
Woonsocket Police arrested Emmanuel F. Algaria, 20, of 316 Manville Road, Apt. 3R, Dec. 14, at 4:52 p.m., charging him with domestic felony assault. He was scheduled for a bail hearing today, but that has been postponed, according to Wooonsocket Police Det. Jamie Paone. Court records list his next court date as Jan. 10, 2014 in Sixth District Court.
No further details were available from the Woonsocket Police. Paone said the department has not released the narrative from the arrest report on the case. A Woonsocket Call article reports friends and family were surprised by the incident and considered Salvi and Algaria, her son's father, happy.
Salvi's friends and family have told their side of the story on a Gofundme.com page set up to help pay for her medical bills, naming her as the person assaulted in the case. The page describes a well-loved and caring person who doesn't say 'no" to friends often. The site says she was seriously injured Dec. 13 and taken to Landmark Medical Center, then Rhode Island Hospital, where she is fighting to breathe on her own.
When Salvi's head was shaved so doctors could treat her, her friends, concerned for how she'd feel when she woke, shaved their own hair off in support and dubbed themselves "Team Kathy."
According to the page, "The money raised will support Catherine's medical costs, bills and help support her young child..." The fundraiser's goal is $5,000.
The page also makes a plea to people who may know someone in a violent relationship. "Please donate and share and most of all, if you know someone or of someone that is in a difficult situation please take the time to talk to them and help them out! Thank You," the page reads.
Donations can be dropped off directly at The Mane Spot Spa, Beauty & Personal Care, 30 Main St., Woonsocket. Call 401-767-7811.
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