Justin Bonner told police he was high on “angel dust” when he allegedly dragged a Cumberland Farms clerk from the store early Tuesday, stuffed her in the trunk of his car and then severely beat her with soda cans and other objects.
Bonner, 24, of Stratford, was arraigned Thursday afternoon at Superior Court in Derby for first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault, both felony charges.
Judge Karen Sequino placed Bonner on suicide watch and ordered medical and psychological evaluations, before lowering his bond to $500,000 and continuing his case until June 23.
Bonner’s case will be transferred to Superior Court in Milford, where more serious charges are heard.
Bonner did not know the woman, who is currently recovering from her head injuries at an unidentified hospital, according to Detective Ben Trabka.
The Abduction
Bonner first entered the Cumberland Farms store at 2:18 a.m. Tuesday, according to a police report on record at the court.
(Note: A Superior Court clerk would not provide copies of the report, which is public information, but allowed reporters from area news outlets to read the document. )
Bonner came into the store three separate times before he allegedly abducted the woman, according to the police report.
After the third time, the clerk had locked the door, but unlocked it to let him enter the store again.
The person in the video was wearing a hat and glasses. He covered a large tattoo on his upper right arm with a plastic bag.
After the clerk unlocked the door, the man grabbed the woman from behind, in a bear-hug stance and forced her out a back door, police said.
That happened at about 2:30 a.m., according to surveillance footage.
About a minute later, a customer drove into the parking lot, and noticed a red car leaving the adjacent parking lot with its trunk open.
The customer entered and the store and found it empty. The person checked the bathroom, searched outside, then called police.
The Assault
The victim told police her kidnapper taped her hands together and stuffed her in the trunk of his car, but the latch didn’t close.
She tried to open the trunk and get out several times while the car was driving, the police report said.
Each time, her attacker would stop the car and hit her in the head with blunt objects, including soda cans he had in the car.
The victim blacked out from the beating. She was later determined to have bleeding from the brain in three places.
At about 4 a.m., the woman turned up in a neighborhood close to the Housatonic River, wearing only socks and a black T‑shirt.
She told a resident she had been kidnapped and raped and was taken to the hospital.
The woman had wet feet and wet footprints lead back to the area of the river, the police report said. Police searched the boat launch Tuesday morning.
The woman appeared to be in shock, police said.
Tips Come In
Shelton police released a screenshot from the surveillance footage Tuesday morning, and received five tips from Bonner’s acquaintances identifying it as him.
Bonner had called at least one person and said he was scared because his photo was in the newspaper.
Police also showed a line-up of suspects to the victim, who identified Bonner as her assailant, the police report said.
Police also ran license plate information from a car seen in surveillance footage from the Cumberland Farms and turned up a match to Bonner.
Some of Bonner’s acquaintances said he was recently having trouble with “angel dust,” or PCP, a hallucinogenic drug — and had become violent.
The Arrest
Police went to the Stratford home of Bonner’s grandmother Wednesday morning and saw him pacing back and forth outside, the report says.
Bonner appeared to be trying to destroy evidence, the police report said, so police went in to arrest him.
As police handcuffed Bonner, he said “I didn’t do it,” and repeatedly yelled “I wouldn’t do such a thing,” the police report said.
But later, as police interviewed him at the station, Bonner said he was the person in the surveillance video.
“It’s me in the pictures. I just don’t know what I did to her,” Bonner told police, according to the police report. “I’m sorry I did this. I will pay for her medical expenses.”
The Arraignment
Bonner was tearful at his brief arraignment Thursday afternoon — as he was in the mug shot provided by police.
As he was escorted into the court room, he mouthed “I’m sorry” to three young women sitting in the first row.
While his public defender, the bond commissioner and prosecutor Paul Gaetano argued about what Bonner’s bond should be, Bonner looked down at the table and once turned around to look at the three women sitting directly behind him.
As Bonner was escorted out, he yelled into the courtroom to one of the women “I love you.”
The women cried during the entire arraignment and declined to comment outside the courthouse afterward.
Police said the investigation is still ongoing and that more charges could be pending.