Phony landscaper who attacked Fairfield woman gets 11 years

BRIDGEPORT — A local man, who posed as a landscaper and forced his way into the home of a Fairfield woman, robbing her at knifepoint, was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison.

“I never had the intention to invade her home, never,” Guilherme LimaDaSilva told Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo.

But the judge retorted that Lima-DaSilva had a calculated plan.

“He chose the residence using a ruse that he was part of a landscaping company, but the victim smelled a rat and she found one,” the judge said.

He then sentenced the 41-year-old Lima -DaSilva, who previously pleaded guilty to home invasion, first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and third-degree assault, to 11 years in prison, followed by nine years of special parole.

Fairfield police said on April 30, 2019, the 71-yearold victim was alone in her home when she saw LimaDaSilva walking towards her front door.

Police said Lima-DaSilva claimed to be a landscaper that the woman had previously hired but the victim was suspicious and called her sister on her cellphone telling the sister to remain on the line while she talked to the man.

The victim went outside to meet Lima-DaSilva with the phone in her hand and give him instructions on removing some weeds in the backyard when police said Lima-DaSilva grabbed the woman and forced her back into her home breaking the screen door.

Police said Lima-DaSilva ripped the woman’s cell phone from her hand, pushed her down to the floor and put a knife to her throat. He demanded cash and jewelry as she begged for her life. He fled with about $40 in cash and the gold hoop earrings the victim was wearing, police said, driving off in a black sedan.

Police spotted the car a short time later and pulled it over in a driveway on Congress Street. However, police said the car took off as officers approached it, driving through yards to get away.

Police said they pursued the car northbound on the Merritt Parkway at speeds up to 90 miles per hour. The car got off at the Easton Turnpike where LimaDaSilva jumped out of the moving car and began running through yards. He was caught hiding under a deck on Lilalyn Drive, police said.

“I was violently thrown on the kitchen floor, he held a knife to my throat and I began to plead for my life over and over,” the victim stated in a letter read to the judge by Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Maura Coyne. “I am still reeling from the terror I experienced that day,” the letter stated.

“I think that said it best,” the prosecutor added.