The New Canaan man arrested last month after yelling at a woman smoking in a designated area outside Waveny Pool touched the woman’s face inadvertently while ripping the cigarette out of her mouth, according to a police incident report.
The 62-year-old Jelliff Mill Road man “was remorseful and stated he realized his actions weren’t the best,” according to the report, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public-records request.
The confrontation occurred around 4:30 p.m. on July 21, and news of the arrest—including a report that the man had “slapped” the woman, as relayed by police—garnered wide attention and generated much discussion online and on social media.
According to a case report written by the investigating officer for the New Canaan Police Department, the woman had gone to “smoke a cigarette outside of the pool entrance in the smoking area” when the man approached her and “stated he thought she should stop smoking and be considerate towards the environment, as there were children around.”
The woman “proceeded to state that she was allowed to be smoking, as she was in the smoking area,” according to the incident report. Yet the man “continued to yell” at the woman, “inching closer to her and then hit her in the face on her left cheek,” the report said. In speaking with the victim, the investigating officer “observed she had no signs of injury and she did not state she was in any physical pain.”
While the woman wrote her voluntary statement recapping the incident, her husband arrived and “was very upset, questioning what had occurred, if the offender was arrested and recommended that [his wife] receive medical attention.”
At that point, the woman said she wanted medical attention, New Canaan Emergency Medical Services was dispatched to the scene, and she “was checked in the ambulance and was said to have suffered bruising to her left cheek,” the report said.
Police charged the man with second-degree Breach of Peace. He is scheduled to appear Sept. 10 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.
His attorney at the Norwalk-based Law Offices of Michael R. Corsello LLC could not immediately be reached for comment.