Residents face child endangerment charges

TORRINGTON — Two New Hartford residents were charged with risking the injury of a child Monday, according to state police.

Margarita Altshuler, 28, of Niles Road, was arrested Monday and charged with use of drug paraphernalia, risk of injury to child, and, in a separate case stemming from a first-degree larceny charge out of Simsbury, failure to appear in court, according to a probable cause report.

Zachery Bussolini, 29, was charged with risk of injury and possession of drug paraphernalia, among other charges. A warrant

charging him with thirddegree larceny stemmed from “numerous kayak thefts in New Hartford.”

Bussolini and Altshuler avoided appearing in public since the warrants had been issued, police said.

Local and state police engaged in “an attempt to intercept one or both of these parties as they put their eldest child on the school bus or near (7:45 a.m.),” according to the report.

During a search of the master bedroom of Altshuler’s home, the state police found an unloaded 12-gauge shotgun and glass pipes with burnt residue, according to the report. The room was unlocked and accessible to other residents, including a 2-yearold child.

The child was found in a separate bedroom, police said.

“As with the rest of the residence, this bedroom was dirty, and unkempt. The child appeared to be physically OK, but was in need of a bath and diaper change,” Trooper Daniel Janco said in the report. “She was sleeping on a dirty mattress or pad on the bedroom floor.”

The state Department of Children and Families later took custody of a 6-year-old child Bussolini brought to get on the bus that morning, as well as the 2-year-old, according to the report.

Police also said Altshuler stated that they both use crack cocaine at times, but denied ownership of the pipes. Janco said the “contents of the refrigerator and the cupboards did not contain enough food to feed the three adult occupants and two small children living there.”

A third man, Jacob Gottlieb, 28, was wanted by Bloomfield police and taken into custody by the department. He was found sleeping on the couch of the residence, police said.

Bussolini was held in lieu of $7,000 combined bond and scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Torrington on Tuesday, police said. In addition to the risk of injury and drug paraphernalia charges, he is accused of committing third-degree larceny and third-degree criminal mischief in a separate case.

He is next scheduled to appear in court Nov. 15, according to state records.

Altshuler was held in lieu of $13,000 bond and was arraigned in Superior Court on Tuesday, according to court records. Her bond was set at $5,000.