Council Member Convicted Of Beating Homeless Man

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) -- A Riverdale Park Town Council member has been convicted of beating a homeless man with a bat.

The Prince George's County state's attorney's office says 51-year-old Raymond Rivas was convicted Tuesday of first- and second-degree assault. He will be sentenced on Jan. 23.

Prosecutors say on June 17, Rivas saw the man, with whom he had earlier encounters, leaning against a fence in the parking lot of an apartment complex he managed.

Authorities say Rivas got a bat and repeatedly hit the man.

The mayor of Riverdale Park tells The Washington Post that Rivas called him to resign his post on the six-person council.