3-time drunk driver faces assault charge

A 47-year-old Jamaica Plain man accused of assaulting his girlfriend before stealing a car and leading police on a brief chase pleaded not guilty to charges in Dorchester District Court yesterday, the Suffolk district attorney’s office said. Charles Rampino, a three-time convicted drunk driver, was arraigned on nine counts, including assault and battery, larceny of a motor vehicle, and operating under the influence, the district attorney’s office said. Prosecutors said that Rampino pushed his girlfriend against a wall at her Pearl Street home in Dorchester early yesterday before stealing a deliveryman’s car and fleeing. Police pursued him onto Interstate 93, but broke off the chase because of his erratic driving, prosecutors said. Shortly afterward, police found Rampino, who had allegedly crashed into a guardrail.