New Canaan Police last week arrested a 61-year-old New Jersey man by warrant after he emailed a local woman in violation of a full no-contact protective order, court documents show.
Authorities became aware of the violation when the victim went to New Canaan Police at about 4:10 p.m. on Dec. 23 to say that she had received an email from an ex-boyfriend, according to an arrest warrant application obtained by NewCanaanite.com.
The protective order, issued in May 2024 for 50 years, resulted from “a previous NCPD arrest for harassment via email against” the victim, according to the arrest warrant application, filed by Officer Owen Ochs.
The email address, sender and body of the email presented by the victim confirmed the man’s identity, Ochs said in an affidavit that forms part of the application.
The email’s subject line was “HANDS UP (KNEES DOWN) DON’T SHOOT” and in it, the man asked the victim to marry him, the application said. He also asked the victim what name to put on “OUR” marriage license, and said, “If you still have a restraining order against me PLEASE ignore this email.”
The email said that the man thought the victim would pick him up at the Greenwich train station and it wasn’t until he arrived there “Saturday at 6:00 am” that he realized she “was not going to pick him up,” Ochs said in the affidavit.
“In the end of the email, [the man] states he will be in River Vale, NJ,” the arrest warrant application said. “It should be noted [the victim] said she has not spoken to [the man] in years, and that they were never in a serious relationship.”
The victim told police that she believes the man went to Greenwich because that’s the address on the protection order—a domestic violence women’s shelter.
A search showed that the man has already served eight months in prison for second-degree harassment, Ochs said in the application.
On Jan. 6, New Canaan Police traveled to the Bergen County Jail, in Hackensack, N.J. to take the man into custody, charging him with second-degree harassment and violation of a protective order. He was held on $100,000 bond and scheduled to appear the following day in state Superior Court. According to Connecticut Judicial Branch records, he has not yet pleaded and remains in custody, scheduled for arraignment March 10.
The Domestic Violence Crisis Center in Stamford provides services, support and education for the prevention and elimination of domestic violence. Its 24-hour hotline is 888-774-2900. To reach DVCC offices during regular business hours, the number is 203-588-9100. Services are free and confidential, multilingual and multicultural. Here’s a podcast with the organization’s executive director.