Groton Police Charge Waterford Man With First-Degree Assault

Groton Police charged a Waterford man today with first-degree assault after he allegedly assaulted a Niantic man at Rose’s Cantina last month and inflicted life-threatening injuries to him, according to a police news release.

The news release said that on January 28th, police were called to the bar at 577 Rt. 12 at 12:41 a.m. for a report of a man down. The bar was closed at the time.

The victim, a 26-year-old Niantic man, was taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and then later transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital with life-threatening injuries, the news release said.

Benjamin Perry, 25, of 41 Miner Ave in Waterford, was arrested today and presented in New London Superior Court on a charge of first-degree assault. He is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Groton Police Lt. John Varone declined to discuss how the injuries occurred, but said the victim was not shot.

“He received injuries to his head,” Varone said. “We had the identity of the suspect within a week and were working to build a case."

No further information was immediately available.