Man accused of kidnapping, rape arrested on new charges
The Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office ordered Person’s re-arrest after he allegedly broke house arrest multiple times over a week-long period in January, court records show.
STAMFORD — A 34year-old former Bridgeport man accused of kidnapping and raping a woman at gunpoint after meeting online faces additional charges after he violated the conditions of his release, according to court records.
Derek Person, 34, who now lives in Waterbury, was re-arrested and charged with three felony counts of first-degree violations of his conditions of release.
The Connecticut State’s Attorney’s Office ordered Person’s re-arrest after he allegedly broke house arrest multiple times over a week-long period in January, court records show.
Person has been courtordered to home confinement and GPS monitoring since he was released on a promise to appear in court on first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault charges in October.
According to court records, Person violated those terms when he left his home without permission on at least three occasions in January.
When informed of his alleged violations, Person told his supervisory officer that “he refuses to abide by such conditions,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Person was initially held on $500,000 bond for the new charges, but was eventually released on a promise to appear in court on May 3. He pleaded not guilty to the three new felony counts.
Person has not yet entered a plea on charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault that date back to a May 11 incident in Norwalk.
Detective Michael Pugliese wrote in an arrest warrant that the victim and Person met in April through Facebook, where he listed his name as “Scott Damon.”
Over the next month, she and Person had conversations over the phone that she described as “casual and comfortable in nature” with “nothing sexual” ever being discussed, though she did say he kept pushing to meet her in person, the warrant said.
The victim agreed to meet Person for the first time at the Rite Aid parking lot on East Avenue in Norwalk around 8:45 p.m. May 11, the warrant said.
Person pulled up in a black SUV, a newer model with tinted windows, the victim told police, according to the warrant. After standing outside the SUV and speaking to Person, she accepted his invitation to get inside when he noticed she was shivering, the warrant said.
“He then began to stare at me and did not say anything,” the victim wrote in an affidavit included in the arrest warrant. “His car smelled like weed. That’s when he put the key in the ignition, he turned it on, and told me that he had a gun underneath his seat and he stated that if I did not comply that he would kill me.”
According to the warrant, Person then drove to a secluded place and parked the vehicle. She tried to escape, but the doors were locked, the warrant said.
The victim said Person then raped her at gunpoint before dropping her back off at the Rite Aid, the warrant stated.
In the days after the incident, the victim said Person texted her multiple times, but she did not respond, according to the warrant.
Norwalk police began investigating the incident on May 15 and traced the “Scott Damon” Facebook account to Person, the warrant said. The victim later positively identified Person in a photo lineup as the man who had kidnapped and raped her, the warrant said.
Police are waiting for test results to see if Person’s DNA is on the clothes worn by the victim the night of the sexual assault, according to his arrest warrant.
Person’s attorney Daniel Ford did not discuss the allegations against his client on Monday.
According to the bail commissioner, Person has multiple violations of probation on his record as well as a conviction for armed robbery.