When Darien police were called to the public pier at Noroton Bay on a report of a young man screaming obscenities and throwing things around just after midnight on Sunday, it led to multiple charges against multiple family members related to at least two fights before arrests were made, according to police.
The police account is complicated.
Darien police described what happened with this account, including accusations not proven in court (as noted below, it’s possible that two people, named “Victim 1” and “Victim 2” by police may be people referred to elsewhere in this account; there’s a further explanation of that in italics below):
At 12:18 a.m., police were called to the pier near the intersection of Nearwater Lane and Baywater Drive and heard a man screaming obscenities, as had been reported. They found a man, later identified as Charles Daley, 18, sitting on a cooler behind the concession stand at the pier. They could see he was upset.
Photo from Darien P.D.
Arrest photo of Charles Daley, 18, of Waverly Road, July 1, 2018.
He admitted that earlier he had been yelling while at the pier. He refused to give police either his name or address. Police saw that he had a bloody wound that looked like a scrape on the knuckles of his left hand. When asked about that, he said he’d punched a rock.
As he continued talking with police, he began yelling obscenities to them. Police noticed that his speech was extremely slurred and they could smell on him the odor of an alcoholic beverage.
He told police that he had been in an argument with someone (who police described as Victim 1) earlier that night at their home, and that was the reason for his outbursts. He said that as they were arguing, he struck the victim in the face, then walked out to the pier.
As police tried to get more information, he continued to be “verbally combative” with them, according to the police announcement. Police called Darien EMS-Post 53 to the scene to evaluate the injury to his hand. He refused further medical attention.
Police spoke to the person who had called police about Daley’s behavior. The complainant told police that he or she also had seen Daley break an Adirondack-style chair on the pier. Police found the broken chair.
Daley was taken to Police Headquarters, where he identified himself and told police where he lived. While he was in the booking area, he intentionally urinated on the floor.
He was charged with third-degree assault, breach of peace, interfering with a police investigation, second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree criminal mischief.
At 2:30 a.m., Sunday, he was taken to Stamford Hospital so that a doctor could examine his hand. He was treated there and returned to Police Headquarters, where he was held until 9:30 a.m., when a $2,500 bond was posted. He was scheduled to appear today, Monday, in state Superior Court in Stamford.
Police went to Daley’s home on Waverly Road at about 1:54 a.m., Sunday to talk to the victim.
There, they met Christopher Daley, 49, who also lives at the house. They told him they were looking for someone who may have been assaulted by Charles. He retrieved Victim 1. Like Charles, both Christopher and Victim 1 appeared to be intoxicated.
Initially, Victim 1 said he or she had been drinking on the pier with Charles, who had struck Victim 1 in the face, causing him or her to go unconscious. But while speaking with officers, Victim 1 changed his or her story, saying he or she was never struck.
Christopher said he would watch over Victim 1 that night.
As police were walking back to their patrol cars, they heard a commotion from the area where Christopher Daley and Victim 1 had been. They rushed back and saw a juvenile suspect and a man soon identified as John Daley, 21, “actively assaulting” a person that police referred to as Victim 2 by repeatedly hitting Victim 2 on the back of the head. Police separated them.
Christopher Daley told police that when police were leaving, he was escorting Victim 1 back into the house when they began arguing and he struck Victim 1 in the face with his open hand, so Victim 1 and the juvenile suspect began attacking him.
[We’ll pause here from describing the police account, to point out that John Daley may be Victim 1 and Christopher Daley may be Victim 2.
[Under a recent state law, in domestic violence cases victims are not allowed to be identified, even though they also may be arrested in connection with the same incident. So police, required not to use names or even identify a victim by gender, must refer to someone only as an unnamed victim in one sentence and then may immediately refer to that same person by name as committing acts that got that person arrested.
[It is also possible that Victims 1 and 2 are other people, but Christopher Daley’s statement that two people were attacking him would be consistent with John Daley, 21, and a juvenile attacking Christopher. Police mention nobody else being charged in connection with that alleged attack, nor do police say they were looking for anybody else.]
Photo from Darien P.D.
Arrest photo of John Daley, 21, of Waverly Road, Darien on July 1, 2018.
Police charged Christopher with breach of peace and issued him a misdemeanor summons to appear in court on Monday. They charged John Daley with breach of peace, third-degree assault and interfering with a police officer. They also issued a summons to the unnamed juvenile to appear in Juvenile Court in Stamford.
John Daley was taken to Police Headquarters and released on a $2,500 bond at 8:47 a.m., Sunday. He was scheduled to appear Monday in state Superior Court in Stamford.