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Teen drinking party turns bloody, leads to arrest
Dec 8, 2005
A Ridgefield party turned bloody last month when a 19-year-old Wilton
man broke a bottle over the head of a 15-year-old Ridgefield girl
during a fight at a house on Keeler Place.
The girl suffered lacerations on her forehead, both eyelids and her
right cheek, police said. She had �between 40 and 50 stitches� at
Danbury Hospital, and she �will require further cosmetic surgery to
repair/cover the scars,� a police affidavit stated.
The affidavit describes a suburban parent�s nightmare � an
out-of-control party, thrown by a teenager who remained in Ridgefield
while his parents were out of town, spiraling into a fight between
uninvited drunken teenage guests, leading to a trip to the hospital.
Craig Nelsen, 19, of Nod Hill Road in Wilton turned himself in to
the Ridgefield police on Thursday, Dec. 1, after learning that he was
wanted on an arrest warrant, police said. He was charged with second
degree assault He was released on $10,000 bond and is scheduled to
appear in the Danbury Superior Court Tuesday, Dec. 13.
Ridgefield Police Captain Stephen Brown said the incident is still
under investigation. �There may be more arrests coming,� he said.
�Nigger,� �slut�
The victim of the assault was black, and several witnesses told police
that Mr. Nelsen called the girl �nigger� and �a slut� before hitting
her over the head with a liquor bottle.
Witness accounts varied in some details, but they confirmed the basic
outline of the incident. After 10 p.m. a group of uninvited guests �
including Mr. Nelsen and the victim � showed up at the party on Keeler
Place in Ridgebury. Mr. Nelsen and his girlfriend had an argument,
after which she �stole� his hat. The victim intervened, chastising Mr.
Nelsen for his treatment of his girlfriend. He called the victim
�nigger� and �a slut.� She hit Mr. Nelsen. He then broke a bottle over
her head.
One witness, interviewed by the police on Saturday, Nov. 19 (the day after the party), told police the following:
�On the night of Nov. 18, 2005, at around 9 p.m., I met up with my
girlfriend..., her three friends (whose names I never got a chance to
learn), and [another friend].... I picked Craig up behind Planet Pizza
in Ridgefield and went to the party. When we got to the house, there
were about 20 kids there, mostly older kids, all of which I didn�t
know.... I felt out of place and wanted to leave. When I went to ask
[his girlfriend] and her friends if they were ready to go, Craig�s
girlfriend and a few of her friends showed up. Craig and his girlfriend
started fighting as soon as they saw each other.
�At this point, me and the four girls decided to leave. [One friend]
saw me leaving and asked for a ride and I said that would be fine. When
Craig saw me and [the friend] in the car, he came over and asked for a
ride. I told him no, it was clear he had been drinking and he was still
holding a glass bottle.
�While he was standing by my car asking for the ride, a black girl
about my age said something to Craig. I couldn�t make out what it was
but it made Craig angry. Craig replied with something along the lines
of �shut up,� followed by �you nigger.� I then watched the girl push
Craig saying, �don�t call me a nigger.�
Struck with bottle
�As that happened, I saw Craig swing the glass bottle at the girl and
shards of glass from the bottle came off of her head. The girl then
covered her face with both hands screaming. She ran off still screaming
with her hands still covering her face.
�Craig then tried to get in the back of my car and I had to get out and
physically stop him, telling him I would not let him come with me. He
walked away and I got back into my car.
�I found out that the boy that took the girl to the party was going to
take her to the hospital. I then left the party, dropped [his friend]
off at his house and went home.
�I felt bad for the girl that was hit. I feel it is a horrible thing
for a man to hit a woman or for a man to hit anyone that violently. I
feel that the least I could do for her was to tell the police what I
had seen.�
Another witness
Another witness told police that he had gone to his friend�s house
(where the incident took place) at around 7 p.m. and they had invited
about 10 people to come over at 8 p.m. He told police there was alcohol
at the party.
Approximately 18 people showed up at about 10:15 p.m., including Craig
Nelsen and the victim. He said his friend had �kicked them out of the
house as soon as they arrived.�
He said less than five minutes later, he heard screaming and went
outside. He saw the victim lying on the driveway, and he could see she
was bleeding, he told police.
Still another witness told police that she had seen the victim yell at
Mr. Nelsen about the way he treated his girlfriend. She said she heard
him tell the victim, �shut up, you slut.�
Police said that they first heard of the incident at approximately
10:40 p.m. on Nov. 18 when an officer responded to a call reporting a
possible domestic complaint. Police said they found no one home at the
private home on Keeler Place, but they found tire impressions on the
lawn and a smashed bottle of alcohol.
At approximately 11:20 p.m., police responded to a call from Danbury
Hospital reporting that a 15-year-old intoxicated female was there,
stating that she had been hit in the face with a bottle. Police said
the girl refused to give more information as to what happened or where.
Mother�s statement
The girl�s mother gave a written statement that said, �My daughter
called me on my cell phone at approximately 11 p.m. on Nov. 18, 2005 to
tell me that she was in Danbury Hospital. She further informed me that
she was hit on the head with a bottle and the person or persons were
unknown to her.
�I arrived at the Danbury Hospital at approximately 11:30 p.m. to find
my daughter�s face disfigured with multiple lacerations on her forehead
and both eyes. She still insisted she did not know her assailant.
�After speaking with a few of her friends, I came to learn that Craig
Nelsen is the perpetrator. I want Craig Nelsen arrested and charges
press that equal the extent of injury inflicted on my daughter, and I
am willing to personally attend his prosecution.�
Girlfriend�s statement
Police interviewed Craig Nelsen�s girlfriend, who first said she �did not want to talk about� the incident.
Later, on Nov. 22, 2005, his girlfriend gave police a written
statement. �We were at a house, I got mad �cause Craig was leaving, he
went to the car, I took it [a hat] from him, he took it back, [the
victim] and him argued, she hit him a bunch of times in the back of the
head, he tried getting in the car when [one of his friends] opened the
door, the bottle smashed on the door and [the victim] started to
scream,� she wrote.
Police said she declined to speak about the incident.
Victim�s statement
Police interviewed eight other witnesses of the incident, as well as
the victim herself, her mother and the person who first reported
trouble to the police.
The victim gave the following statement:
�It was Friday night, Nov. 18, and I and some friends decided to go to
this party at Keeler Place. Craig Nelson was arguing with [his
girlfriend] so I decided to break it up, then she [the girlfriend]
stole his hat as he (Nelsen) was getting into a car so he didn�t want
to leave.
�I was trying to calm him (Nelsen) down and he was like get my hat
back. So I tried and she said no and then he started yelling at me. I
was like calm down and he was like shut up you stupid nigger and I was
like did you just call me a nigger and he was like yeah.
�So I walked over to the other side of the car and was like are you
kidding me, then I hit his head and then he smashed the bottle over my
forehead and the alcohol was in my eyes, so I couldn�t really see.
�I then went over to [the girlfriend] and told her and I didn�t realize
I was bleeding; I thought that it was the alcohol on my face, not
blood, until everyone started screaming and left. Someone then brought
me to the E.R. ...�
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