Easton police have arrested a Fairfield man who is accused of sexually assaulting one woman and trying to sexually assault another who believed he was taking them to houses they had been hired to clean.
Easton police have arrested a Fairfield man who is accused of sexually assaulting one woman and trying to sexually assault another who believed he was taking them to houses they had been hired to clean.
Police said they received the first report on Nov. 14 from a resident who said a woman who did not speak English was knocking on her door and asking for help.
The victim told police that she is a day laborer and a man picked her up in Bridgeport and told her that he had work cleaning houses for her, police said.
She said she was held against her will at knifepoint, her phone was stolen, she was sexually assaulted her and dropped at the end of Riverside Drive, a dead-end road in Easton, according to police.
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Months later, on the morning of March 25, police received a 911 call from a woman who said she had been held against her will, assaulted and dropped at the intersection of Morehouse Road and Reilly Road in Easton.
With help from a police translator, Easton police determined that the victim had also been picked up in Bridgeport under the auspice that she was to be cleaning a house, then the man drove her around for a while and tried to sexually assault her, police said.
The victim told police that she was able to take a picture of the license plate on the vehicle.
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She was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated for minor injuries.
Easton police said they identified 64-year-old Joseph Kolenda, of Fairfield, as the suspect in both cases.
“It's unclear why he did it in Easton, why he came here, it's unclear if it was only Easton,” Easton Police Capt. John Arnold said.
Fairfield police found Kolenda on Monday night and turned him over to Easton police on a warrant for the incident on Nov. 11.
He has been charged with sexual assault in the third degree and robbery in the second degree.
Kolenda remains in custody.
Easton police said they are processing evidence to make an arrest in connection with the second incident.
They are also working with other police departments to determine whether Kolenda might be connected to other incidents.
“We don’t want this to happen to somebody else. We want to encourage you to call police and report it and collect as much information as you can,” Arnold said.
Anyone who has any information or video is asked to contact Detective Kent Lyman at Klyman@eastonctpolice.com or call the Easton Police Dept at 203-268-4111.
