A white couple from Long Island accused of attacking a Black worker at a Connecticut hotel were able to escape arrest at the scene by tricking the town's police, according to an independent investigation.
The investigation, ordered by Stonington town officials and released this week, found there was no malice or bias by officers who investigated the June 26 conflict. Attorney and former Hartford police officer Frank Rudewicz, wrote in a 52-page report that no laws or policies were violated, but that police used faulty tactics.
Philip Sarner and Emily Orbay, who have no permanent addresses but are known to be primarily from Nassau County, are accused of attacking Crystal Caldwell, a 59-year-old Black desk clerk at a Quality Inn in Mystic, after complaining about a lack of hot water in their room.
They called Caldwell a monkey and punched her in the face, according to arrest warrants.
A message seeking comment was left Thursday with their attorney.
Authorities over the summer released 911 calls from the incident. According to the recordings, the first call came from a colleague of Caldwell at the hotel. The woman tells a dispatcher that a guest was "beating up on my desk clerk." She goes on to add, "he is smacking my desk clerk around." Another voice is heard in the background of the call saying, "I want him arrested now."
News
Moments after receiving that call, dispatchers received another call. One of the hotel guests involved in the assault, who has now been identified as one of the suspects, called police and said, "I was just assaulted by staff." A dispatcher asks how he was assaulted. He replies, "punching my head... It is on camera."
After that call, and as police were on their way to the hotel, the man and the woman he was with were spotted on hotel surveillance video appearing to approach Caldwell for a second time. After being separated by other hotel employees, Caldwell told police she went to put ice on her injured face and was attacked again, knocked to the ground and kicked in the ribs.
The video shows Caldwell getting punched and thrown to the ground. She said that she was not only physically injured, but that the couple also used a racial slur against her.
After the incident, all three people were taken to local hospitals for treatment. Police said they were unable to monitor the couple due to COVID-19 restrictions. While police said they wanted to arrest the couple on the day of the attack, the couple returned to the hotel from the hospital, got in their car and left the state.
But the investigation found that no such policy existed and that police actually left the hospital because they were unsure how long the couple would be held there.
The report says police planned to make an arrest at the hotel after Sarner told an officer by phone that he had been discharged from the hospital and was returning for his belongings.
But Sarner had already been to the hotel and retrieved his belongings, and he and Orbay had left for New York, the report states.
“Candidly, the SPD attempted to lure Sarner into returning to the hotel under their escort, only to be placed into custody,” Rudewicz wrote. “This attempt failed, in essence, because Sarner tricked SPD.”
The two were taken into custody on July 13 in Brooklyn and returned to Connecticut.
Sarner is charged with second-degree assault, third-degree assault and intimidation based on bigotry and bias. Orbay is charged with third-degree assault and intimidation based on bigotry and bias.
The report has been sent to Stonington Police Chief J. Darren Stewart and the Board of Police Commissioners, who will determine if any disciplinary action is warranted.
