A former Valley Indy reporter could see eight criminal charges against him dismissed next year after a judge granted his application into a pretrial diversionary program at Superior Court in Milford Wednesday (Aug. 7).
The reporter, Anthony Spinelli Jr., was arrested last December after Milford police said he exited a restroom at the Westfield Connecticut Post Mall yelling that a man in the bathroom had a firearm.
There was no one with weapons inside the restroom, but police said they found Spinelli in possession of an illegal knife.
Police said officers then learned Spinelli had caused a previous disturbance at a food establishment in the mall, and subsequently found more weapons — a large knife, a wooden baton, an ax, and a BB gun — inside Spinelli’s car.
Spinelli has said he used many of the items in martial arts training.
Spinelli was charged with four counts of weapons in a motor vehicle and single counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, falsely reporting an incident, first-degree breach of peace and second-degree breach of peace.
Spinelli worked for the Valley Indy from January 2011 until November 2011. He worked as a reporter for The Connecticut Post for 29 years before leaving the paper in 2009.
A Seymour resident, Spinelli applied for psychiatric accelerated rehabilitation in the case.
The program is basically the same as accelerated rehabilitation, a diversionary program for first-time offenders, but is available to defendants with a mental disease, defect, or personality disorder.
Spinelli’s lawyer, Frank Riccio Jr., said his client has been successful with psychiatric treatment and submitted a letter from a psychiatrist detailing a treatment plan for Spinelli.
Judge John Ronan granted Spinelli’s application Wednesday, continuing the case to Aug. 7, 2014, at which point the charges against Spinelli will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble.
While the case is still pending, Judge Ronan ordered Spinelli to comply with any psychiatric treatment, take all medications prescribed for him, not get arrested again, not go to the Westfield Connecticut Post Mall, and not possess any weapons.
