Brookfield Man Granted Plea Deal In Lake Assault Case

BROOKFIELD, CT — The case of a Brookfield man charged with an assault that left another man with fractures and permanent facial disfigurement is no longer headed for trial, court documents show.

Richard Nigro, 41, was arrested in July and charged with first-degree assault, first-degree strangulation and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest. Police say that he and his brother-in-law attacked a man, leaving him with a broken nose, chipped tooth, fractures, a deep laceration to his temple, and bruising to his face, arm and legs. Nigro's brother-in-law and co-defendant, Neil Yandow, died in October, and the case against him was dismissed.

During Nigro's pretrial hearing on Dec. 4, the charges against him were down-sized to one count of second-degree assault in exchange for a guilty plea, according to court documents.

Nigro, Yandow, and three others had taken a boat from the Brookfield bar Down the Hatch to a small island in Candlewood Lake outside Echo Bay around 2:30 a.m. on July 14. When Nigro, Yandow, and Nigro's wife/Yandow's sister disembarked, the owner of the boat made a comment about Nigro's wife, according to police. Both men then mistakenly attacked the victim, whom they thought had mad the remark.

Nigro is scheduled for sentencing in Danbury Superior Court on Jan. 8. He was released following his arraignment on a $150,000 bond.