Police: Man sent threatening texts to officers
FAIRFIELD — A former town official who has repeatedly been charged with animal abuse was arrested again Monday after police say he sent them threatening text messages.
Raymond Neuberger, 39, is facing two animal cruelty cases related to serious injuries inflicted on two cats owned by his girlfriend, court documents show. He was convicted in a third 2018 animal cruelty case involving the torture of dogs owned by the woman he
was to marry, according to court documents.
Neuberger was arrested again Monday and charged with second-degree threatening and second-degree harassment after he sent several “threatening and harassing” text messages to law enforcement, Fairfield Police Lt. Michael Paris said.
Police did not release the contents of the text messages.
Neuberger, who served as a member of Fairfield’s Representative Town Meeting from 2013 to 2017 and ran for state representative in 2016, was taken into custody at his parents’ home in Easton, Paris said.
He was released after posting $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on March 15.
“The Fairfield police remain committed to upholding the law and will not tolerate any threat, including to our law enforcement officers,” Chief Robert Kalamaras said. “We will hold those responsible to the fullest extend of the law.”
Neuberger’s most recent animal cruelty cases stem from the beating death of a cat named Gem and the torture of a cat named Pearl who had been burned by a chemical “down to the muscle” on her abdomen, an arrest warrant said. Those cases are pending as Neuberger is free on bond.
Neuberger was first charged with animal cruelty in 2018 when he faced four counts of firstdegree malicious wounding of an animal after police said he injured his then-fiancee’s two 5year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Thor and Charlie.
Police said Neuberger poured boiling water on Thor and fractured several of Charlie’s ribs. Burns covered 8 to 10 percent of Thor’s body when his owner sought treatment for him in June 2017, according to a warrant for Neuberger’s arrest.
While Neuberger claimed the burns had occurred when he accidentally spilled hot coffee, veterinarians determined the injuries were too extensive to have been caused by a spill and notified authorities, the warrant said.
Neuberger spent 41 days in jail and was sentenced to two years of probation in November 2018.