Nelson Serrano is by most accounts a hard-working, generous, all-around nice guy — and a patriot, too, having volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army.
But his memories of combat during a one-year tour of duty in Afghanistan have haunted him. He said he eventually turned to drugs like PCP as a way of self-medicating.
“I’ve seen things that the average person is not going to see,” Serrano told a judge at Superior Court in Milford. “I tried to deal with it and I tried to bury things deep down.”
Drug use just compounded his problems, though. He said that when he takes PCP he turns into a different person — like when he assaulted a 19-year-old neighbor in her home and then barricaded himself in his apartment last May.
For that, and an incident months later in which he jumped on a motorist’s car while under the influence of the drug, he will spend the next 14 months behind bars, the judge decided.
Serrano faced up to two years in prison at his sentencing earlier this month after he pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary, fourth-degree sexual assault, first-degree criminal mischief, and assaulting a police officer before Judge Frank Iannotti at Superior Court in Milford.
I’m God
Most of the charges related to a bizarre May 20, 2015 incident that began when he approached a neighbor at the Beaver Brook Apartments screaming that he was God, Prosecutor Amy Bepko said in court.
Serrano repeated his claims of divinity to a 19-year-old woman who lived at the complex as she was walking through the parking lot.
Then he kissed the woman, wrapped her in a bear hug and lifted her off the ground, Bepko said. He tried to put his hands up her shirt before kissing her again.
The victim broke free, but couldn’t keep Serrano from following her into her apartment in his PCP-fueled state, Bepko said, relating that the woman told police Serrano displayed “superhuman” strength during the ordeal.
“I’m God and I can do whatever I want,” the woman quoted Serrano as saying. “The police can’t stop me.”
The woman was eventually able to get Serrano out of the apartment and called police.
When cops arrived at the apartment complex, Serrano had holed himself up inside his own apartment, only popping his head out of a second-floor window briefly at the behest of Ansonia police Lt. Andrew Cota, who was standing in the yard below.
“Come on, do me a favor, open the window,” Cota asked.
“I’m trying to sleep. Stop knocking on my door!” Serrano said before slamming his window shut.
Police negotiated for hours with Serrano before a friend arrived at the complex and persuaded Serrano to surrender to police without incident.
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After posting bond while charges were pending in that case, Ansonia police arrested Serrano again Aug. 15, 2015 after he was accused of jumping on a motorist’s car, causing about $2,000 in damage, Bepko said.
The prosecutor said Serrano’s erratic behavior continued after being booked, and that he took his clothes off and urinated on the floor of his holding cell before he was taken to the hospital, where staff determined he was on drugs.
Bepko asked Judge Frank Iannotti to hand down a two-year prison sentence in the case. The prosecutor noted that police had initially charged Serrano with first-degree burglary, punishable by a mandatory five-year prison sentence, and that she could have obtained a conviction if the case went to trial.
She said she lowered the charges because of Serrano’s military service and clean record and the fact that the victims didn’t want the book thrown at him. But she said Serrano should go to jail for two years because of the seriousness of the case and the “commotion” caused to others during both incidents.
Serrano’s lawyer, Frank Riccio II, asked the judge to give Serrano an 11-month prison sentence, saying his client “has really cleaned himself up.”
The lawyer said Serrano turned to drugs after what he saw in combat.
“Five years in the Army did a lot to him,” Riccio said.
Several of Serrano’s family members also spoke during the sentencing, telling the judge simply that the incidents were totally out of character.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Serrano’s brother, George. “That’s not who my brother is.”
Another brother, Jonathan, said Serrano is generous — almost to a fault. “If he has, he’ll give.”
I’m Sorry
Serrano began his remarks to the judge by saying sorry to the victim and his own family.
“First and foremost I want to apologize to the victim for any emotional distress that I have caused,” he said. “That’s not the type of individual that I am.”
He said on the two dates in question, he was using PCP, and the drug “caused me to act erratically and to do things that I would never do.”
“I don’t know why I let myself go down this path, your honor,” Serrano said. “I’m a good man and I always try to help anybody that I can.”
But since his two arrests, he’s sought and received professional help.
He checked into a VA substance abuse program, and is also seeing a psychologist and undergoing anger management treatment, he said.
He said what’s most useful is hearing from others who have served in the military.
“I like to connect with other veterans,” Serrano said. “We share our stories and try to figure out what is it that makes us act a certain way.”
He told the judge he’ll be better positioned to find a job when he gets out of jail because he recently completed truck driving training and also took electricians’ classes.
“I just want to put this behind me,” he said. “Whatever the court decides is my punishment, I will accept that as a grown man, because I know I messed up.”
Judge Iannotti commended Serrano for trying to come to grips with his problems, and his family for helping him do so.
“There’s little to no doubt here that these actions were all fueled by your drug use, and/or some mental health issues that may have been part of your drug use,” he said.
“It sounds like you are at the very least attempting to do all the right things to not allow a recurrence of this type of behavior, and I hope you’re successful, for your sake and the sake of your good family,” the judge said.
On the other hand, he noted, he also had to take into account Serrano’s bizarre behavior while he was still addicted to PCP.
“Serious crimes were committed,” the judge said. “And as much as sometimes we like to overlook those things when we see somebody going on the path to recovery, sometimes when it’s so serious, you can’t completely overlook it. You did what you did … there has to be some punishment component to this behavior.”
He then handed down an eight-year prison sentence to be suspended after 14 months, to be followed by five years of probation.
While on probation the judge ordered Serrano to undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment, maintain a full-time job or school enrollment, and to stay away from both victims, as well as the Beaver Brook Apartments.
