Wife Of Middletown Mayor Assaulted In Downtown Incident, Police Outline Just What Happened

MIDDLETOWN, CT — The mayor's wife was involved in an assault downtown over the weekend, according to a police report and a confirmation by Middletown City Hall.

The incident does not appear to be political in nature, police said.

According to a police incident report that had the name of the "victim" involved redacted, on Sunday at 2:21 p.m., officers were dispatched to the area of Melilli Plaza for the report of an assault. According to an incident report, when officers arrived, they were met by a woman, confirmed by Mayor Gene Nocera's office to be Karen Nocera, saying she was assaulted by a man and provided officers with his description and direction of travel.

The man was subsequently located on the 500 block of Main Street and positively identified as 56-year-old Joseph Lopez of Middletown, according to an incident report.

Police determined that Karen Nocera was leaving Democratic Headquarters on Court Street and was walking 15-to-20-feet feet behind Lopez. She did not know Lopez but closed the distance between the two, according to an incident report.

Lopez then abruptly turned around, faced the victim, and made a statement about her walking too fast, according to an incident report.

Karen Nocera said that Lopez then struck her in the face twice before walking away, leaving her with "minor injuries to the face," but not requiring medical attention, according to an incident report.

Lopez was arrested and charged with second-degree breach of peace. He was held overnight Sunday on a $25,000 bond, which, at a Monday arraignment, was reduced to a promise to appear again on Nov. 6, according to judicial system ands police records.

Said a police report, "Although the victim, whose name is not being released at this time, was leaving Democratic Headquarters when the assault occurred, there is no evidence to suggest that this was a politically motivated incident. There is no public safety threat at this time."