Police: Restaurant Employee Grabbed, Hugged, Groped Butt of Coworker

More
Police

Police/Police

Download PDF

An employee of a Darien restaurant grabbed and hugged a female coworker in the basement of a Darien restaurant without her consent and grabbed her butt, Darien police said.

The victim was able to get him off of her by telling him there were surveillance cameras in the basement, police said.

Darien police described the incident and investigation with this account (including accusations not proven in court; unless otherwise noted, information about the incident comes from the female employee’s accusation):

The man later admitted to grabbing her in the butt when police detectives interviewed him the next day. Police then applied for an arrest warrant charging him with fourth-degree sexual assault and second-degree unlawful restraint.

State Budget Cuts Degrading Public Safety

Because of state budget restrictions in the Connecticut Judicial Branch, the police arrest warrant application sat around for about six weeks in state Superior Court in Stamford before it was signed on June 8.

In this time, both the victim and the accused employee continued to both work at the small restaurant. Neither of the two, nor restaurant management, knew whether the accused employee would be arrested.

Police have waited for a number of arrest warrants to be approved in recent weeks, and have sometimes found that the court system has misfiled arrest warrants that have been approved. Police are now forbidden from visiting the courthouse to get quicker approval of warrants unless the situation is particularly dire.

The Allegation

The woman told police that she had worked at the restaurant for about eight months. The employee who attacked her had been there about 1 1/2 months at the time of the assault.

She said that on April 13, she was working at the restaurant when the other employee, Jaras Bandiera, 41, of Linden Place in Stamford, asked her what perfume she was wearing and said he’d be willing to buy her more if she kissed him. She declined.

Just after her shift ended at 4 p.m., she went down to the basement to get her purse and jacket. Bandiera followed her down and approached her. He asked her for a good-bye hug and kiss. She leaned forward to give him a friendly hug when he grabbed her with both arms around her upper boddy and began to kiss her aggressively around her neck as he squeezed her tight.

She told him to let her go, but he continued holding her for about two minutes, she told police. When a third employee walked past the two in the basement, he finally let her go. The female employee said she didn’t think the third employee saw the two.

She then took her purse and tried to leave, but Bandiera grabbed her again in the same way as before and held her, with her back up against some pipes on a wall. He was positioned in a way that blocked her from leaving the room.

At that point, he had his arm around her body and back, then grabbed her on her buttocks, through her clothing. That’s when she told him there were surveillance cameras in the basement. He finally let go of her, but told her not to say anything and not to be mad at her.

Police Told Within Two Hours and Investigate

After she spoke with friends, the victim visited Darien Police Headquarters at about 6 p.m. that day to file a report. The victim said she had never dated Bandiera or had more than a workplace relationship with him. She provided police with a sworn statement.

Police detectives went to the restaurant and spoke with Bandiera the next day. He said he went downstairs at about 4 p.m. to get some things needed for his job. He met the victim there and said good-bye by shaking her hand, then hugged her with his other hand while kissing her on her cheek.

He initially said he didn’t grab her butt, but later confessed that he did. He said he was with the victim for about two or three minutes before she left.

With the arrest warrant signed on June 8, Bandiera was informed and came to Police Headquarters early the next day, where he was arrested on charges of fourth-degree sexual assault and second-degree unlawful restraint.

His bail was set by the court at $20,000, which he did not immediately post, and he was taken to state Superior Court in Stamford that day for a court hearing. He was later released on $2,500 bond and is next scheduled to appear in court on July 12.

Editor’s note: The name of the restaurant is not included in the article. If another news organization makes it public, we’ll add the name.

2 thoughts on “Police: Restaurant Employee Grabbed, Hugged, Groped Butt of Coworker

  1. Pingback: State Budget Cuts to Close Juvenile Court in Stamford, Cases Going to Bridgeport | Darienite

  2. Pingback: Two Teens Charged with Burglarizing House on Holmes Court | Darienite

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *