New Canaan Police on Sept. 27 arrested an 80-year-old Avalon Drive man by warrant following multiple complaints from a female neighbor about stalking incidents stretching back to May.
Joseph Cassata. Photo courtesy of the New Canaan Police Department
Joseph Cassata was charged with second-degree stalking, voyeurism and simple trespass.
Cassata’s neighbor reported his behavior and actions to police on Sept. 16, according to an arrest warrant application signed the following day by state Superior Court Judge Alex V. Hernandez.
For about five months, Cassata “had repeatedly engaged in unwanted contact despite her telling him multiple times not to speak with her,” according to the police affidavit completed by Officer Michael Schnell and obtained by NewCanaanite.com. She “also reported that Cassata had been observed looking into her window,” the affidavit said.
The woman had “befriended Cassata over the course of several months” starting in May and “had never dated Cassata,” the arrest warrant application said.
“However his behavior soon became inappropriate,” it said. “She stated the first incident occurred when she mentioned an upcoming dinner date, and Cassata responded aggressively saying, ‘I don’t like that.’ On a second occasion, Cassata told [the woman] that he loved her, and she was unable to respond due to shock.”
She then told police about an incident “where Cassata was sitting uninvited on her patio furniture in the evening, playing music she believed was intended to lure her outside,” the affidavit said.
“She did not confront him and instead turned up the volume on her television,” it continued. “On another occasion, while she was outside watering her plants, [the woman] found Cassata sitting in the dark on her patio. She told him that his presence frightened her and instructed him not to do it again, but Cassata argued with her. Despite her request, Cassata returned to her patio days later. [She] again instructed him not to sit on her patio if she was home. The patios at Avalon West are approximately 10 feet by 6 feet concrete slabs raised 1 foot above the grass, and each unit has its own private patio.”
She later confronted Cassata, the affidavit said, explaining that his behavior “was invasive and upsetting.”
“She recalled a specific incident on Sept. 7 when, after getting out of the shower and wrapping herself in a towel, she saw Cassata peeking through her blinds as she sat down to watch television,” the arrest warrant application said. “She motioned for him to look away but did not go outside to confront him due to feeling uncomfortable. When she eventually confronted Cassata, he claimed he had seen her waving and was concerned for her well-being. Cassata was able to look into [her] window because her apartment is located on the ground floor.”
On another occasion, the woman fell asleep on her patio “and woke up to find Cassata watching her” — an incident corroborated by another neighbor, the application said.
The woman emailed Avalon management twice regarding the situation. On May 11, she requested darker window screens after Cassata told her to remove them “because he couldn’t see in,” the application said. On June 18—a full 38 days later—management informed the woman that no action would be taken, the affidavit said, citing her testimony.
Most recently, on Sept. 15 (a Sunday), the woman “saw Cassata standing near her patio, staring at her without moving,” the arrest warrant application said.
“Later, when she went outside to retrieve a package, she saw Cassata standing outside watching her again,” it continued, adding that on her way to the Police Department “she observed Cassata standing next to the trunk of her vehicle.”
Officer Schnell and Sgt. George Caponera went to speak to Cassata at the Avalon West Apartments. There, police saw a car with its hazard lights on, sitting outside the woman’s residence. When the police arrived, the vehicle left but returned shortly thereafter. The woman told police that Cassata was inside the vehicle. Police advised her to go inside and then spoke to Cassata, “who stated that he had looked through X’s blinds because he was ‘concerned,’ ” the affidavit said. “Cassata denied any other wrongdoing. Cassata was given a warning not to be on or near [the woman’s] residence and to have no further contact with her. The affiant informed Cassata that violating that warning could result in an arrest.”
Yet at 3:50 p.m. on Sept. 17, police called the woman, who told them that she’d seen Cassata “lurking” around her apartment on multiple occasions “and witnessed him standing about 5 feet away while [she] slept on her patio.”
According to the affidavit, Avalon Drive West consists of four separate three-story buildings and Cassata lives in a different building from the woman he’s been stalking.
His car is parked in a garage near his own building and he “has no valid reason to be on her patio or outside her building, as he can access his unit without walking past her window or patio,” the police affidavit said.
According to Connecticut Judicial Branch records, Cassata has been released on $15,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Thursday in state Superior Court.