NAUGATUCK -- A scary encounter for a Naugatuck teenager just after dark Monday, has resulted in a 35-year-old man's arrest.
Monday, at approximately 8 p.m., near the cemetery, at the intersection of High and Calvin, a girl, riding her bike, noticed a car following her.
"The 16-year-old was panicked over the situation," said Lt. Bryan Cammarata, of the Naugatuck Police Department.
The girl claims Raimundo Donascimento, a married father of three, who has lived in Naugatuck for 15 years, asked her several times to get in his car.
"We were also advised that the person made a claim that he was an off-duty police officer," said Cammarata.
But, the suspect's attorney said his client never told the girl he was an off-duty police officer and the only thing he offered was to call for a ride for her.
"My client maintains his innocence," said attorney Ioannis Kaloidis. "He maintains that he did nothing wrong in this case. We believe that this is simply a misunderstanding."
Police said the girl did everything right.
"When the person repeatedly had approached her, she started making a lot of noise and creating what I would call a scene," said Cammarata.
And it worked "because it grabbed the attention of a driver by, who stopped to make sure she was all right," said Cammarata, who added that the girl was also smart enough to get on her phone with a relative as she soon as she felt uncomfortable. And she had the presence enough to pay attention to his vehicles license plate.
"Ultimately it (plate identification) was off a little bit, but it was enough for us to be able to start the investigation and be able to track us down to who the person was," said Cammarata.
Donascimento, who has no prior criminal history, was hit with breach of peace, impersonation of a police officer and reckless endangerment.. And, while he was released on a written promise to appear, he will remain under house arrest, with the exception of work and medical appointments.