East Hartford man accused of invading woman's home, choking her in October

Apr. 30—A man is being held in lieu of $750,000 bond while facing home invasion and other charges based on accusations last October that he broke into an East Hartford woman's home while armed with a handgun he couldn't legally have, chased her down, and choked her to unconsciousness.

In addition to the home invasion charge, which carries 10 to 25 years in prison, Nathaniel Noah Weaver, 33, of 256 O'Connell Drive, East Hartford, is facing felony charges of second-degree strangulation, first-degree unlawful restraint, four counts of risk of injury to a child, and three gun counts.

He is also facing misdemeanor charges that include third-degree assault and third-degree criminal mischief in the Oct. 17 incident, which led to his arrest 10 days later.

East Hartford police Officer Lawrence W. Henrickson reported in the affidavit supporting Weaver's arrest that he was dispatched to the woman's home based on a report of a burglary in progress.

HOME INVASION

DEFENDANT: Nathaniel Noah Weaver, 33, of 256 O'Connell Drive, East Hartford

FELONY CHARGES: Home invasion, second-degree strangulation, first-degree unlawful restraint, criminal possession of firearm, criminal use of a weapon, illegal alteration of a firearm identification mark, and four counts of risk of injury to a child

STATUS: Held on $750,000 bond at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, due July 19 in Hartford Superior Court

When he knocked on the door, Henrickson continued, a man opened it and calmly asked what was going on. The officer said he replied that someone had called about a disturbance and asked him to open the screen door. Instead, the man calmly closed the main door, the officer reported.

Henrickson continued that when he knocked again, the man opened the main door a second time and, when told to unlock the screen door, stepped back and looked toward the second floor, from which a woman's voice told him to let the officer in.

At that point, the officer reported, the man slammed the door and locked it. The officer said he began forcing entry while telling a fellow officer to secure the back.

After kicking in the front door, Henrickson searched the first floor and found the back door open and a handgun on the kitchen table.

While other officers unsuccessfully searched the area for the man, Henrickson spoke to the woman, who was on the second floor. She said she didn't think she was injured and declined medical attention, but described the following, according to the officer:

She said Weaver had called her earlier in the night, sounding intoxicated, and asked whether she had another man in the house. She said she told him no one was with her and hung up.

The woman said she was awakened later by someone pounding on an exterior door. When she got downstairs, she said, she heard Weaver yelling from outside, heard glass breaking, then saw Weaver climbing in through a broken bathroom window.

She said she ran toward the stairs with Weaver chasing her and yelled to someone in a first-floor bedroom to call police.

The woman said she made it to her bedroom but Weaver cornered her next to the bed and shoved her into the wall while choking her with his hands. She said she thought she lost consciousness, then regained it when police were knocking on the door.

Henrickson reported that he couldn't see marks on the woman's neck but did see a damaged lampshade on the bedside table.

The woman declined to give a detailed written statement, expressing fear for her safety, the officer reported.

While Henrickson was interviewing the woman, a man walked into the house and other officers stopped him. He said Weaver had asked him to "check on his girl," but when the woman reacted fearfully, police told him to leave.

Although the woman told police that Weaver didn't live with her, his lawyer, Michael L. Chambers Jr., made clear that is disputed, saying it's impossible to commit a home invasion or burglary "somewhere you live."

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