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Gregory Rottjer during his arraignment Dec. 12, 2017 at Superior Court in Derby.
MILFORD — A Derby man faces up to 20 years behind bars for throwing a man from a bridge on “Valley New Year,” the night before Thanksgiving.
Gregory Rottjer, 26, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 28 at Superior Court in Milford to a charge of attempted murder.
According to court records, Rottjer pleaded no contest to the charge June 12 before Judge Frank Iannotti.
A plea of no contest, or nolo contendere, means a defendant does not admit the allegations against him, but does not dispute them either — and a judgement of guilt is entered in the case.
Court documents indicate there is no agreed-upon sentence recommendation in the case, meaning Rottjer could be sentenced to anywhere from 1 to 20 years in prison.
Charges remain pending against two others charged in the case — Rottjer’s girlfriend, Jennifer Hannum, and a friend, Matthew Dorso.
Hannum is scheduled to appear at Superior Court in Milford Aug. 31, and Dorso is scheduled to appear Sept. 6.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Rottjer’s lawyer, Frederick Paoletti, declined to comment on the case.
The Valley Indy also left a message with a lawyer representing the victim in the case, a 30-year-old New Haven man who suffered a brain hemorrhage, hypothermia, and needed seven staples to close a wound in the back of his head after being thrown about 45 feet from the Derby-Shelton Bridge into the river.
The incident occurred the night before Thanksgiving 2017, referred to locally as “Valley New Year,” an extremely busy night for bars in downtown Derby and Shelton.
The bridge connects the two downtowns.

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Police, firefighters, and EMS responded to the area of the bridge about 12:50 a.m. Nov. 23 and found the victim in the river underneath.
An Echo Hose volunteer firefighter and Police Officer David Eldridge rescued the man, who was then taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The victim later told police he and his brother were walking from Bar None on Elizabeth Street in Derby to Center Street Social in Shelton when he saw a man arguing with a woman on the bridge. When he tried to make sure the woman was OK, the man attacked him and threw him into the river.
According to an arrest warrant in the case, police developed Rottjer as a suspect after they found Hannum’s cell phone near the scene of the fight.
Residents of the nearby Birmingham Condominium building, which overlooks the bridge, also helped police by sharing cell phone videos of the incident.
Rottjer was arrested two weeks after the incident and was released after posting a $250,000 bond in the case.
The night of “Valley New Year” in 2013 the bridge was the site of a hit-and-run accident in which two pedestrians were struck by a vehicle.
The driver in that case was sentenced to three years in prison, according to court records.
Shelton Police Detective Richard Bango, who investigated the case against Rottjer, said police step up enforcement efforts annually the night before Thanksgiving, and are planning additional steps this year.
“We have always increased patrols on that night and we will continue to do the same this year,” Bango said Thursday. “In addition, the command staff will meet prior to this date to discuss a plan of action for this night.”