Cops obtain arrest warrants in attack on Black hotel clerk

Stonington police said Friday they have obtained arrest warrants charging a white couple from New York with assaulting a Black woman who works at the Quality Inn in Mystic.

The couple, who have not been identified, are accused of beating hotel employee Crystal Caldwell, 59, on June 26.

Police said they obtained a warrant charging the man with second-degree assault, a felony, and a warrant charging the woman with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. Police said they sought warrants charging the couple with bias crimes, but after New London prosecutors reviewed the evidence they signed warrants charging only assault.

Police said they are working with authorities in New York and the FBI to take the couple into custody.

Caldwell, who is a front desk clerk at the motel, told the Courant the attack began about 11 a.m. June 26, shortly after the man called the front desk to complain there was no hot water. She said he became belligerent and threatened to send his girlfriend down to the desk to beat Caldwell. The couple did eventually go to the front desk, push past two white employees, and assaulted Caldwell and called her a monkey, Caldwell said.

Caldwell said she suffered a concussion and injuries to an eye, her face, a wrist, a knee and her back. She said the couple punched and stomped her.

Caldwell and her alleged attackers all sought treatment for injuries at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.

Police were criticized for not immediately arresting the couple, but Capt. Todd Olson said officers tried to but were prevented from getting to the pair by hospital staff. They intended to arrest the couple when they returned to the motel to retrieve their belongings, but learned later they had already placed their possessions in their car. The couple, police said, took a ridehailing service from the hospital to the motel and got in their car and quickly left.

Police said the FBI is conducting a civil rights investigation.