New Milford man sentenced in 2020 kidnapping, assault of Brookfield woman
DANBURY — A New Milford man accused of assaulting, threatening and kidnapping a woman three years ago was recently sentenced to multiple years in prison.
Joseph Caruso, 33, was sentenced on June 6 at state Superior Court in Danbury after pleading guilty earlier this year to first-degree unlawful restraint, third-degree assault, second-degree threatening and two counts of second-degree strangulation. His fouryear prison sentence will be suspended after 27 months, with five years of probation ordered.
Caruso originally faced 14 felony and eight misdemeanor charges stemming from incidents in April and June 2020, when he allegedly
assaulted, threatened and kidnapped a Brookfield woman — but many of the charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.
The court clerk’s office said Caruso “got the right to argue” — a plea agreement provision giving a defendant “the right to ask the court at sentencing for the least amount of prison time possible,” according to the state Judicial Branch’s Office of Victim Services.
Caruso’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
The woman involved in the 2020 incidents for which Caruso was charged told police he not only strangled, repeatedly slapped and sexually assaulted her June 3, 2020, but barricaded her into a bedroom where he tried to sexually assault her, according to police.
She said he also assaulted her the night of April 11, 2020, after they got into an argument, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The woman told police Caruso strangled her and she tried to run away but he chased her down, dragged her to his SUV and drove her to his house in New Milford while threatening to kill her, according to the warrant for Caruso’s arrest.
At his house, the victim said Caruso pulled out a handgun, put it to his head and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, according to the warrant. She said he then began playing with the gun and pointing it at her chest, the warrant said.
According to the warrant, there was visible bruising on the woman’s arm, a “large bump on the back of her head” and lacerations to her hand and lip when Brookfield police interviewed her in June 2020.
Caruso is being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center, according to the state Department of Correction.