MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN NORWICH BEATING

A 21-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday in New London Superior Court to taking part in a May 18, 2016, beating at the Ravi Mart gas station in Norwich that left the victim with bleeding on the brain and a collapsed lung.

Hugh Lowery will be sentenced Oct. 31 to a year in prison followed by two years of probation.

One of five men charged with the crime, Lowery was the first to resolve his case. He pleaded guilty to second-degree assault under the Alford Doctrine, an indication he doesn’t agree with the state’s version of the crime, but doesn’t want to risk receiving a harsher sentence if convicted at trial.

The victim, who was placed in an induced coma and put on a ventilator at The William W. Backus Hospital, was in the hospital and a rehabilitation center for about two months and suffers from confusion and disorientation as a result of his traumatic brain injury. He said his assailants stole $400 and a cellphone from him.

According to Norwich police, officers sent to the gas station at 10:40 p.m. for a man on the ground found the victim lying face down next to a gas pump with facial lacerations and swelling of the head. Witnesses told police multiple people ran from the scene, and they saw a grayish SUV drive away.

Officer Christopher Hawrylik pulled over a blue SUV a short time later and questioned the occupants. One of them, Tremaine Dowdell, was later identified as a suspect after officers viewed video footage from the gas station, which showed several men punching and kicking the victim while he lay on the ground, according to the affidavit.

They also identified Lowery, Wellington Griffin, Kwendelle Wiggins and Rasheed Serrano.

Police said they obtained video footage from pole-mounted cameras on Central Avenue that shows the suspects chasing the victim down the street toward the gas station. They also learned that earlier in the day, Griffin had said he wanted to “bash the victim’s brains” after learning the victim had stolen $25 from a man who wanted to buy heroin.

The video showing Lowery in the area has not been preserved due to “technological issues,” according to prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla. The prosecutor had worked out the plea agreement with Lowery’s attorney, Gregg W. Wagman.

Paul Mott, 29, owner of the Caribbean American Kitchen to Go on Truman Street, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Alker Meyer in New Haven to 60 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release.

Mott, of Groton, conspired with others to distribute cocaine in the summer of 2016, regularly taking orders for the drug and driving to a supplier in the Bronx, N.Y., the release said. He would return to Connecticut and then give the cocaine to his co-conspirators for further distribution, according to the release. Some of the trafficking activity occurred at his restaurant, the release said.

Police arrested Mott on Aug. 8, 2016, after he was found with approximately 319 grams of cocaine that he brought to southeastern Connecticut from New York. Investigators who searched a Groton hotel room where Mott lived found more cocaine and items used to process and package the drug, the release said.

Mott has been held since his arrest. On May 11, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute 500 grams or more. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to forfeit a 2013 Toyota 4Runner and approximately $3,494 that was seized from him when arrested, the release said.

The FBI Northern Connecticut Safe Streets Task Force, Norwich Police Department, Waterford Police Department and Groton Town Police investigated.

drug paraphernalia for less than a half-ounce of marijuana.

Waterford Frank Michalski, 48, of 1 Prest St., New London, was charged Sunday with driving with a suspended license.

Kenneth Gagnier, 32, of 7 Gair St., Uncasville, was charged Sunday with driving with a suspended license, driving without a required interlock device and carrying a weapon in a vehicle.

Mark Capasso, 34, of 145 Bloomingdale Road, Quaker Hill, was charged Monday with first-degree reckless endangerment, reckless burning, second-degree false report of an incident and second-degree making a false statement.

Gary Zolkowski, 35, of 7 Robin St., was charged Monday with