DOG BITES HELP NORWICH POLICE ID SLASHING SUSPECT

A Norwich man who police said was attacked by a pit bull named Storm in January after he slashed the dog owner’s throat with a box cutter made his first appearance Monday in the New London court where major crimes are heard.

Jorge A. Rivera, 26, of 306 Norwich Ave. pleaded not guilty to first-degree assault, first-degree unlawful restraint, carrying a dangerous weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment. He is being held in lieu of $150,500 bond at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit written by Norwich police Detective Kevin J. Wilbur, the female victim, who is not identified, called police from the Ravi Mart convenience store on Central Avenue at 1:53 a.m. on Jan. 16 to report she had been assaulted near her home. She was taken to The William W. Backus Hospital, where she was treated for a 1-inch slash wound on her neck that the emergency room doctor said could have been fatal if more pressure was applied.

The woman said an unknown man had attacked her at her home and that her dog had bitten the suspect multiple times and that he might need medical attention. At 11 a.m., police learned that Rivera, whom they knew as “Tony” from past contact, was at the emergency room for treatment of dog bites.

The police learned, through their investigation, that Rivera and the victim had been smoking crack together earlier in the night. She said he returned later, and pushed his way into the home after she opened the door to tell him she was going to bed. She said he spun her around and cut her throat. The victim said she fled into the home, but he caught up with her in the living room doorway, grabbed her from behind and began to choke and bite her. The dog flew off the couch and bit the man’s hand, causing him to drop the box cutter, which she shoved under a chair. The dog continued biting the man as the struggle continued, and eventually the woman was able to flee the home, according to the affidavit.

She ran to Jorge’s Cafe, but said nobody would help her, so she went to the Ravi Mart convenience store, according to the affidavit.