
Dorso
MILFORD — An Ansonia man charged with assaulting a man during “Valley New Year” received “accelerated rehabilitation” Thursday, a form of probation.
Matthew Dorso, 28, was charged with third-degree assault in connection to a fight that happened the night before Thanksgiving 2017 on the Derby-Shelton bridge.
During the melee, one of Dorso’s friends allegedly threw a 30-year-old man over the side of the bridge into the Housatonic River about 45 feet below.
A prosecutor said Dorso played a minor role in the fight and helped the police investigation.
Dorso apologized in court.
“I’m just very sorry about the whole situation,” Dorso said.
The incident happened 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.
Police, firefighters, and EMS responded to the area of the bridge about 12:50 a.m. Nov. 23 and found a man 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.
Dorso had allegedly been drinking for hours with two friends — 26-year-old Gregory Rottjer and Rottjer’s girlfriend, 23-year-old Jennifer Hannum.
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 Rottjer and Hannum arguing on the bridge.
When he tried to make sure Hannum was OK, Rottjer attacked him and threw him over the side of the bridge.
Rottjer is now serving a 10-year prison sentence to be suspended once he spends a year behind bars, according to court records, after pleading no contest to attempted murder in the case.
Dorso was charged because he got into a fight the victim’s brother as Rottjer attacked the other man.
Neither the victim nor his brother were in court Thursday.
The prosecutor in the case, Amy Bepko, did not oppose Dorso’s application for accelerated rehabilitation.
The program is a form of unsupervised probation meant for first-time offenders accused of non-serious crimes. Criminal charges against defendants who complete the program successfully are dismissed.
Dorso’s lawyer, John Gulash, said the incident was a “transformational event” in the life of his client, who has learned “alcohol is not his friend.”
Dorso has a job and his employer and family have supported him, Gulash said.
Judge Brown granted Dorso’s application for accelerated rehabilitation and continued the case to Oct. 3, 2020, at which point the assault charge will be dismissed if Dorso stays away from the victim, isn’t arrested again and complies with substance abuse treatment.
Hannum, the woman the victim attempted to help, pleaded guilty to interfering with police and was given a suspended one-year jail sentence last month, according to court records.