Attorney For Arrested Council Member Roberts Issues Statement

Norwalk CT

21 December, 2020

12:04 PM

Description

NORWALK, CT — The attorney for Norwalk Common Council member Kadeem Roberts has issued a statement denying any wrongdoing by his client following Roberts' arrest on assault and related charges over the weekend. Attorney Darnell Crosland said his client was asked by the woman involved — referred to by police as the victim and by Crosland as the "complaining witness" — to pick her up from a party "because she was drunk." "Mr. Roberts obliged and picked her up," Crosland said. "When he dropped her off she refused to exit the car due to her intoxication. "They say no good deed goes unpunished, and we want to be clear, Mr. Roberts never interferedwith any 911 calls nor did he assault this woman. I am confident that she will come forwardwith the truth." Roberts is accused of throwing the victims belongings out of the vehicle, mushing her face, poking her in the eye and pulling her hair, Norwalk police said. He also is accused of taking her phone away from her when she tried to contact authorities. Police charged Roberts with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, and interfering with a 911 call in connection with the incident, which occurred at about 2 a.m. on Sunday. Roberts is free on bond. Below is Crosland's full statement: Kadeem Robert has dedicated his life to service and will continue to do so. He encourageseveryone over this holiday season to drink responsibly, and if they feel that they are not in acondition to drive, they should call a designated driver. That is exactly what happened in thiscase, Mr. Roberts received a text from the complaining witness at around 1:12am asking him topick her up from a party because she was drunk. Mr. Roberts obliged and picked her up. When he dropped her off she refused to exit the cardue to her intoxication. They say no good deed goes unpunished, and we want to be clear, Mr. Roberts never interferedwith any 911 calls nor did he assault this woman. I am confident that she will come forwardwith the truth. The larger issue at play is this, because police officers are overly concerned with not making thewrong call in DV cases, whenever a person calls the police and makes an allegation, they rush tojudgment and arrest based solely on the allegations. We are confident that not only will the truth come out that will exonerate Mr. Roberts, we aregoing to push for legislation that changes this culture of arrest first and ask questions later.