Derby Greenway rape suspect accepts plea deal

MILFORD — A Waterbury man will spend more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty Monday to raping a 75year-old woman on the Derby Greenway in 2019.

Artay Drinks, 49, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree sexual assault, third-degree assault of a victim over 60, thirddegree robbery, and third-degree burglary Monday before Judge Peter Brown.

A plea deal in the case calls for the judge to hand down a 20-year prison sentence, to be suspended after 13 years, when Drinks returns to court for sentencing Feb. 2.

The victim was not in court Monday. The prosecutor in the case, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein, said the woman was aware of the plea deal and could appear to speak at Drinks’ sentencing.

Stein said Derby cops were called to the Greenway in the area of lower Caroline Street about 1:30 p.m. Nov. 2, 2019, after passersby found the victim, whose face was bloodied after the assault.

She told police that someone had pushed her to the ground from behind before raping her and robbing her of her car keys.

The woman suffered two fractured wrists, the prosecutor said.

Stein said police identified Drinks as a suspect in the rape after linking him to other crimes in the lower Naugatuck Valley, including a break-in at St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church hours afterward for which Drinks pleaded guilty to the burglary charge.

Westport police arrested Drinks two days after the rape on larceny charges. Derby police interviewed Drinks at the Westport police station.

“In their discussion with Mr. Drinks he subsequently admitted to being the person who had attacked the victim in this particular case,” Stein said.

When his clothes were searched, cops found the rape victim’s car keys, in addition to items taken from the church in Ansonia, Stein said.

The prosecutor said DNA also linked Drinks to the attack.

Drinks’ lawyer, Jamie Alosi, told the judge her client decided to plead guilty “after much discussion,” declining further comment immediately after the hearing.

In addition to the prison time, Drinks’ sentence will include at least 10 years of probation and lifetime registration as a sex offender, the judge said Monday.

The rape victim sued the city of Derby in 2020, alleging officials didn’t do enough to protect people using the popular walking trail.

The case was thrown out of court, but has since been appealed.