Criminal charges against an Ansonia Board of Education member accused of drunken driving after crashing into a house in May were continued Friday (Dec. 6) after he withdrew two applications for diversionary programs that could have seen the cases dismissed.
Robert Caruso, 51, will return to Superior Court in Derby Jan. 10 for his lawyer to have a pretrial conference with a judge and prosecutor.
Caruso, re-elected to the school board in 2011, allegedly crashed into a house at the intersection of Beaver Street and Myrtle Avenue May 19.
In addition to being a member of the Board of Education, Caruso is a long-time volunteer firefighter, an employee of the public works department and is listed as an auxiliary police officer in Derby.
Days after he was charged, attorney Norm Pattis said Caruso was not drunk, but rather suffering from an unspecified medical condition.
Court Case
But Caruso, to this point, has not raised a medical defense in court — and according to the file in his case, he once used a diversionary program for drunk-driving defendants in the 1980s.
According to court records, on Oct. 25 Caruso applied to take part in the alcohol education program and the accelerated rehabilitation program.
Both are pretrial diversionary programs designed for first-time offenders. If granted acceptance into the programs, defendants typically see the charges against them dismissed if they complete classes and/or other conditions like community service.
But Caruso withdrew those applications in court Friday.
“There might have been a possible mistake with the application,” Caruso’s lawyer, Heather Rolfes, told Judge Charles Lee. “Therefore we are going to seek to withdraw them.”
Asked by Judge Lee if he had any position on the request, prosectuor John Kerwin said he didn’t, but asked the judge to schedule a judicial pretrial — a closed-door hearing during which a judge tries to get both sides to agree to a plea deal — for next month.
Judge Lee scheduled the hearing for Jan. 10.
Caruso and Rolfes, a member of Pattis’ firm, declined to comment outside the courtroom about what the “mistake” was. The Valley Indy also left a message at Pattis’ office seeking comment Dec. 6.
But, according to the application on file in Superior Court, judicial officials ruled him ineligible to participate in the alcohol program.
The form does not give a specific reason why Caruso was ruled ineligible, but a check box asking if Caruso had a prior operating under the influence conviction was marked “Yes,” as was a box asking if he had participated in the alcohol education program before.
The form listed no date for the prior conviction, but said Caruso had used the alcohol education program in 1986.
Bill Seymour, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, said Friday that Caruso received a six-month license suspension in effect from July 2, 2013 to Jan. 2, 2014 as a result of his arrest in May, but found no other activity on Caruso’s driving record.
“i don’t see any other motor vehicle violations on his record,” Seymour said. “The only one we have is the current case.”
Background
Police said Caruso was driving north on Beaver Street May 19 when he crossed over into the southbound lane and hit a chain link fence and a stop sign.
From there, police said Caruso drove across Myrtle Avenue and crashed into a house.
There were no injuries or other vehicles involved. Caruso was the only person in his vehicle.
Police said Caruso was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol.
He refused a Breathalyzer test, police said.
Ansonia police subsequently charged Caruso with operating under the influence, failure to obey a stop sign, failure to drive right, traveling unreasonably fast, and carrying a firearm while under the influence.
Caruso, who has a pistol permit, had a .380-caliber Bersa “Firestorm” handgun in his possession at the time, police said.
