Bridgeport resident Geraldo Maldonado can’t keep his name out of the headlines.
Previously arrested for four home burglaries in Trumbull spanning from November to February, the 20-year-old Forestview Road man was charged again Wednesday, May 18, in connection to a home invasion and a brutal sexual assault that took place on Old Town Road back on Oct. 13, 2015.
Trumbull Police Lt. Leonard Scinto said Maldonado’s most recent arrest on May 13, which included a bevy of burglary and criminal mischief charges, connected the department's detective to the suspect, who was arrested on a warrant for home invasion, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping in the first degree with a firearm, burglary in the first degree, threatening in the first degree and risk of injury to a minor.
“During the course of the burglary investigations, the detectives continued to pursue the sexual assault investigation,” Scinto said. “Using evidence recovered from these burglaries and working in conjunction with other police agencies, including the state forensic lab, Maldonado was identified as a suspect in the home invasion and sexual assault and an arrest warrant was applied for.”
Scinto told The Times that a female victim — an Old Town Road resident — awoke around 4 a.m. to find a male in her bed who was pressing a gun against her body.
According to a report, the female was taken at gunpoint to an area in the rear yard where she begged for her life and the life of her daughter before she was sexually assaulted.
Scinto confirmed that the victim was a young mother whose infant child was in the home at the time of the rape.
Police said that the assailant left the scene of the crime and the victim ran back into her house before she was eventually taken to Bridgeport Hospital for an evaluation. She told police it was too dark to identify the man, which left detectives searching for a suspect until this month.
Served before getting away
Maldonado was about to make bond on the Trumbull burglary charges Tuesday, May 17, but before he was released from custody Bridgeport police served him an arrest warrant in relation to a fatal motor vehicle accident he was involved in on April 18. He was arraigned May 18 for allegedly causing the crash that took the life of a 22-year-old Seymour resident.
Subsequently, Trumbull police served him the warrant for the home invasion that same day and he was held on a $1 million bond.
Scinto said he appeared in court Thursday, May 19 where Superior Court Judge William Holden read the report, which including graphic descriptions of Maldonado entering the female victim’s bed, pressing a gun against her neck, and forcing her to an isolated area behind her house where he demanded she get down on all fours
Maldonado was arraigned before he was returned to the Bridgeport Correctional Center, a press release said. He is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, June 14.
A long history
Back on Feb. 2, Maldonado was caught trying to burglarize a Sunnycrest Road home.
Police said he was carrying a handgun when he was pursued on foot from the scene. Maldonado, who was 19 years old at the time, dropped the weapon when confronted by officers and continued fleeing south across the Merritt Parkway.
The weapon was found to be a BB gun and Maldonado was eventually taken into custody a short distance from his home. He was charged with interfering with
a police officer, burglary in the first degree, and carrying a dangerous weapon.
He was held on a $50,000 before being released.
Other burglary charges
It wasn’t Maldonado’s first home burglary in Trumbull.
Bridgeport and Trumbull police had several open burglary investigations in the area of Maldonado’s Forestview Road residence and a search warrant for his residence was obtained.
Police were able to recover jewelry identified by his previous victims that was taken from their homes.
A search warrant was granted for his cell phone and DNA was recovered from one of the burglaries.
“As a result of information gathered during the course of the investigation, detectives were able to connect Maldonado to four more burglaries, including two at the same residence,” Scinto said.
The four separate arrest warrants consisted of four counts of burglary in the third degree, three counts of criminal mischief in the third degree, one count of larceny in the sixth degree, one count of larceny in the third degree and possession of burglar tools.
The burglaries took place on Nov. 18, 2015, Jan. 11 and Jan. 14, and then the last one on Feb. 2.
A warrant was served on Friday, May 13, and Maldonado was detained on a combined $200,000 court-set bond.
Fatal accident
Maldonado, released on a $50,000-bond following his first arrest by Trumbull police, was scheduled to appear in court May 3 to answer to the interference charge, as well as the initial weapon and burglary charges.
However, before he appeared in court, he was arrested again in connection to a fatal accident that happened in Bridgeport Monday, April 18, according to Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez.
Police said Maldonado was being pursued in a high-speed car chase when his vehicle crashed into a SUV driven by 22-year-old Seymour resident David Anderson.
Police said the impact from the collision flipped Anderson’s vehicle, and he was thrown from it onto the pavement.
A report said Anderson suffered severe injuries to the head and died at Bridgeport Hospital.
The crash took place at the intersection of Barnum Avenue and Pembroke Street, according to the report.
Charges from that accident are still pending. He was ordered to held on a $200,000 bond Wednesday, May 18.
That was before Judge Holden dropped his gavel Thursday and set his bond at $1 million after hearing about the details of Maldonado’s sexual assault in Trumbull.