Police last week arrested a 20-year-old Stamford man by warrant after he confronted an ex-girlfriend after work in New Canaan, court records show.
During the New Year’s Eve incident, she tried to get away and call 911, but he “took her phone,” according to an interview with the victim that New Canaan Police Officer Erica Morey cited in filing an arrest warrant application, signed Jan. 1 by a state Superior Court judge.
Police were made aware of the incident at about 4:42 p.m. on Jan. 1, when the victim came to department headquarters to report a domestic dispute, Morey said in her affidavit, which forms the main portion of the arrest warrant application.
At about 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 (a Wednesday), the victim was in the parking lot behind Hashi Sushi on Forest Street, walking to her car after work, when she “saw her ex-boyfriend” waiting for her, the application said.
She tried to get into her car and lock it, but he “grabbed the door before she could close it” and “demanded that they talk,” the application said. They had broken up about two weeks prior, it said. The victim “agreed to talk, but from inside her vehicle with the window down,” but he “grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the vehicle,” Morey said in the police affidavit.
That’s when she tried to get away and call 911 but the man took her phone. The man “convinced her to get into his vehicle” and “took her to his residence without her consent,” the application said. She spent the night at his house, and told him “what he wanted to hear about working out the relationship, so there would be no further escalation,” the arrest warrant application said.
The following morning, he dropped her off at her car and then texted her during the day, the application said. Though she blocked him, he “contacted her from different numbers,” it said.
Police phoned the man and he told them that “he did drive from Stamford to New Canaan to speak to Victim once she got out of work,” the application said. The man told police “that Victim was holding an alcoholic beverage and smelled alcohol on her breath,” it said. He then “reached into Victim’s vehicle to take her keys, as he did not want her to drive, and wanted to talk,” the arrest warrant application said. He told police that “he did not recall grabbing her arm to pull her out of the vehicle,” it said.
He told police that his ex “tried to call 911, but he grabbed her phone to stop her so that the situation would not be exacerbated, which he stated he should not have done,” Morey said in the arrest warrant application.
The man told police that he “begged” the woman “to get into his vehicle and to talk, and guided her to his vehicle with his hand rubbing her back, where Victim got in on her own,” the application said.
While still in the parking lot, she “got out of the vehicle and walked away, without her keys and phone,” the man told police. He saw her walking around town,
So he “rolled down his window asking her to get in the vehicle, which she did and they went to his residence,” the arrest warrant application said. There, “everything was normal,” he told police, and “he dropped Victim off at her vehicle the next morning, and she was texting him during the day.”
A full no-contact protective order was issued Jan. 21, court records show.
The man turned himself in to New Canaan Police at about 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 20. He was released on $1,000 bond and scheduled to appear in court the following day. He has not yet pleaded, according to Connecticut Judicial Branch records, and remains out on bond. He is being represented by the Norwalk-based Law Office of Anthony Febles, and is now scheduled to appear March 19.
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 recent Q&A with the organization’s executive director.