N.Y. man accused of Stamford sex assault rejects state offer

STAMFORD — One of two New York men charged with allegedly sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman in a vehicle after she left a Stamford nightclub last year has rejected an offer to resolve his case.

Poul Isidro, 37, turned down the offer during a pretrial hearing at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Tuesday.

Under the offer, Isidro would have pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault in return for a 20-year prison sentence, suspended after he served 12 years, and 30 years of probation.

Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Moran said during Tuesday’s hearing that attorney Angel Lugo, who represents Isidro, had asked the state to reduce the charge from first-degree sexual assault to seconddegree sexual assault during negotiations.

While Moran said the state was willing to reduce the charge, Isidro would need to serve more time in prison than the 12 years offered in the original deal.

Lugo ultimately declined on behalf of his client.

Isidro and his alleged co-conspirator Arnold Olivos-Cruzado, 25, both of White Plains, are charged with first-degree sexual assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault and first-degree unlawful restraint.

Stamford Police Lt. Tom Scanlon said the assault was reported to the Stamford Major Crimes Squad on Aug. 4, 2022.According to arrest warrants, the woman told police that she and her friends had gone to a night club on Atlantic Street the previous evening.

At the club, she ran into men she identified as Olivos-Cruzado and Isidro, whom she said she had met the previous summer.

According to the warrant, the two men bought the woman and her friends drinks. While dancing later that night, one of the two men kissed her, which she told police made her feel “uncomfortable,” the warrant said.

The warrant said that at the end of the evening, the two men offered to give the woman and her friend a ride home. Around midnight, the two men dropped the woman’s friend off then drove to a parking lot, where the woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by both men, the warrant said.

Olivos-Cruzado was arrested without incident on Aug. 6, 2022, on Stamford’s West Side.

Scanlon said intelligence from New York FBI Safe Streets Task Force said that Isidro had gone to Georgia. Authorities in Georgia were alerted and Isidro, who was in possession of the vehicle allegedly used in the crime, was arrested as a fugitive of justice in August 2022, Scanlon said.

The car was seized as evidence, according to Scanlon.

After rejecting the state’s offer, Isidro’s case was placed on the trial list. Olivos-Cruzado is next scheduled to appear on April 26.