Brookfield Man Sentenced in Lake Assault Case

BROOKFIELD, CT — The man charged with assaulting another man on New Fairfield's Sand Islandand leaving him with fractures and permanent facial disfigurement has been sentenced to 10 years in jail, suspended after two years, and five years probation.

Richard Nigro, 41, of Brookfield, was arrested in July and charged with first-degree assault, first-degree strangulation and interfering with an officer/resisting arrest after police say he and his brother-in-law accosted another man during a late-night jaunt on Candlewood Lake.

Police say that Nigro and brother-in-law Neil Yandow both attacked the 25-year-old pilot of their boat to Sand Island when they mistakenly believed the pilot had made an inappropriate comment about Nigro's wife/Yandow's sister.

The men left the pilot with a broken nose, chipped tooth, fractures, a deep laceration to his temple, and bruising to his face, arm and legs, according to court documents. 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 was sentenced on Wednesday in Danbury Superior Court.