Ex-Bridgeport cop arrested in axe-throwing bar takes plea deal

MILFORD — A former Bridgeport cop accused of assaulting a police officer during an incident last October at an axe-throwing bar he owns will face up to six months behind bars after pleading guilty in the case.

But if 58-year-old Leonard Alterio completes substance abuse treatment and sensitivity and bias training in the next four months, he will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and the case will be dropped, Judge Auden Grogins indicated at state Superior Court Friday.

Alterio pleaded guilty to a single count of interfering with a police officer in connection to the Oct. 13, 2023, incident at Crazy Horse Axe Throwing & Lounge on Bridgeport Avenue, which he opened last year with his wife.

In court, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Kalthoff said police were dispatched to the business because Alterio was intoxicated and his wife asked police to remove him from the premises.

Though he was initially accused of assaulting a police officer, the prosecutor described Alterio as acting “obnoxious” with police, saying he “chested up” to one of the cops, and “effectively asked that officer what he was prepared to do to stop him” prior to his arrest. Police also said Alterio used racial slurs during the altercation.

“You’ve heard the facts as to what happened here in this incident,” the judge asked Alterio. “Are they basically correct?”

“Yes,” Alterio replied. Grogins continued the case to Sept. 4 for sentencing, after warning Alterio that he could go to jail for up to six months if he doesn’t live up to his end up the bargain — and up to 364 days behind bars if he gets arrested again or doesn’t come back to court. Alterio’s lawyer, Gene Zingaro, said he would make sure his client is on track with the required treatment before returning to court.

Afterward, Zingaro said in a statement that Alterio pleaded guilty Friday “with the clear understanding that if he completes some training the state will allow him to vacate his plea.”

“He has a clean record now and the goal is for him to have a clean record when this process is complete,” Zingaro said. “In my estimation, that goal is not only attainable, but likely.”

Zingaro said that Alterio “runs a clean, safe bar and has a history of service to the state. This incident is not a reflection of my client in any way whatsoever.”

The arrest last October was not Alterio’s first. In July 2022, he was charged with third-degree assault and evading responsibility in connection with what police characterized as a road incident near Stonebridge Restaurant. The charges were dropped after Alterio was granted a pretrial diversionary program called accelerated rehabilitation.

In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the city several years ago, Alterio was accused of pistolwhipping a University of Bridgeport student who was sitting in his car outside a bar where police had been called for a disturbance in October 2017.

The city settled the lawsuit last year, according to court documents.