Assaulting pregnant woman and puppy
Winsted, CT (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Nov 30, 2003
County: Litchfield
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: John S. Pascarelli
The savage beating of an 18-year-old Winsted woman and her puppy resulted in a three-year jail term for a local man on Friday. John S. Pascarelli, 32, of 5 Elm St., Winsted, pled guilty to third-degree assault, animal cruelty, as a felony count and fifth-degree larceny during a hearing held before Judge Elizabeth Bozzuto in Bantam Superior Court.
"This man committed a brutal assault on the victim, who was pregnant at the time, and this 19-week-old puppy," said Helen McLellan, assistant state's attorney. "Fortunately for them, they were all checked out and are doing fine."
The jail sentence also includes a penalty for the theft of a check from a local woman in August. Pascarelli admitted to police that he forged her signature and cashed the check for $265 to buy drugs.
Winchester police arrested Pascarelli in December after an 18-year-old woman came to police headquarters to complain that Pascarelli beat her and nearly killed her puppy.
The trouble started, the victim told police, after the puppy apparently ran away from Pascarelli during a walk and then urinated on his foot, she said. He was angry with the dog and kicked it in the ribs until it bled from its eyes and defecated from the abuse, she said. When she brought the yelping animal into the tub to clean it, Pascarelli yelled that she loved the dog more than him, and grabbed the puppy by the neck in the tub and started to choke the animal. He threatened to kill the animal, she said, threw the puppy back into the tub and held its head under the water.
"I had to hit John to get him to let go of puppy," the victim said in a statement to police. "I feared he was going to drown it. John then hit me with an open fist on the left eye. I fell back onto couch and then he grabbed me by front shirt picked me up off couch."
Pascarelli reportedly grabbed the woman around the neck with both hands and began to choke her. "I couldn't breathe and tried to tell him I couldn't breathe, but he did not stop," she told police. "I began to panic and must have blacked out because I don't remember him stopping. The next thing I remember is waking up on the bed next to puppy."
Police said the woman was examined at the emergency room, and suffered bruises, contusions and a black eye. References« CT State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Litchfield County, CT
|
