A man on a temporary visitor visa from the Dominican Republic was arrested and extradited from Rhode Island on charges related to a domestic violence incident at a Fairfield rest stop.
Ariel Dejesus Valdez, 28, was extradited to Connecticut on Monday on an extradition arrest warrant held by Troop G in Bridgeport, Connecticut State Police said.
The arrest warrant for Valdez stemmed from an assault that occurred at the North Fairfield Service Plaza on Dec. 7, state police said.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, on Dec. 7 just before 6:30 p.m., troopers were dispatched to the Interstate 95 North rest area in Fairfield for a report of a disturbance occurring “in and around a vehicle.”
The dispatch reported that a woman and a child suffered injuries after an alleged assault. Troopers were told the suspect was a man wearing a black hoodie and jeans who was last seen on a DOT camera possibly entering the “AItown portion of the service plaza,” the affidavit said.
The arriving trooper was met by multiple officers from the Fairfield Police Department, who said they searched the inside of the rest room for a man matching the suspect’s description but were unable to locate him, according to the affidavit.
The officer encountered a woman sitting in a Ford F-350 pickup and said she had been traveling with a man identified as Valdez who was driving the truck. She said they were returning home to Providence, Rhode Island, when she had to stop to use the bathroom, the warrant affidavit said.
She said she was sitting in the front passenger seat with her 1-month-old baby in the backseat when Valdez allegedly got into an argument with a technician over the phone and she tried to calm him down, according to the affidavit.
She alleged that Valdez became upset after hanging up with the mechanic and began arguing with her, the affidavit said. She said he drove into the rest area where the hikers park and allegedly tried to punch her in the face but missed, according to the affidavit.
She said she got out of the truck and saw him grab the $2,000 they had just made trucking and then walk away, the affidavit said. She then said she got back into the driver’s seat of the truck and locked the doors. After locking the doors, she claims Valdez climbed into the bed of the pickup and lay there, according to the affidavit.
She said she turned on the truck and tried to leave because she thought he was getting out and noticed he had opened the toolbox in the bed of the truck. She said she had put the vehicle in park when he allegedly climbed out of the back seat and broke the right rear seat window, the affidavit said.
She told state police that the glass fell on the 1-month-old in the backseat, causing the child to suffer cuts to his face. She then said she started yelling “Call 911” and a nearby truck driver walked up to her and told her to call 911 and go to the rest area, according to the affidavit.
After Valdez broke the window, she claims he walked next to a tractor-trailer and stopped. She then alleged he walked back to the truck, opened the driver’s side door and began choking her with both hands, the warrant affidavit said. She claimed he threw her backwards and walked away to the rest room while she caught her breath, according to the affidavit.
She stated that the $2,000 he took was company property and that she had not authorized him to receive it.
First responders from American Medical Response in Bridgeport arrived on scene and treated the child. According to the woman, she cleaned the child’s mouth of dried blood and removed pieces of glass around the child’s neck. The blanket the child was wrapped in also contained pieces of glass that first responders reportedly continued to find inside the ambulance, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the woman told state police she was experiencing neck pain as a result of the alleged strangulation.
She provided photos of Valdez to state police, who distributed them to troopers and local police officers. She stated that Valdez was in the United States on a temporary visa and must travel back to the Dominican Republic in the coming weeks, the affidavit said. She also claimed he has an active arrest warrant out of the Dominican Republic, according to the affidavit.
State police contacted the Department of Homeland Security, who stated that Valdez was in the U.S. on a temporary visitor visa and gave them an address in Florida. Officials also said he never informed DHS he was going elsewhere and failed to board his scheduled flight back to the Dominican Republic on September 6.
After the attack, Valdez fled Connecticut and was later taken into custody by Rhode Island law enforcement officials on an extradition warrant.
Valdez was arrested Monday and processed at Troop G, where he was charged with two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment, and one count of risk of injury to a child, second-degree strangulation or suffocation, second-degree criminal mischief, third-degree criminal mischief, at third. -degree theft and second-degree breach of the peace.
According to state police, Valdez was unable to post his court-set bail of $100,000 and was being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center. He was arraigned Tuesday in Bridgeport Superior Court.
