Police lights

By Josh Lanier From Daily Voice

A Bridgeport man is facing serious charges after police said he attacked an 81-year-old woman in her car after she stopped to check on a possible disturbance.

Samuel Bryant, 42, was arrested Thursday, Nov. 14, after officers found him squatting in a vacant home. He is charged with second-degree assault of an elderly person and first-degree reckless endangerment, Bridgeport police said.

The alleged attack happened Sept. 16 when the woman was driving home from church near Barnum and Central avenues. She saw a man and a woman standing in the street and heard the woman scream.

The woman pulled over to check on them.

Police said Bryant walked up to her car, opened her door and began to pummel her as the younger woman pleaded with him to stop. The victim did not know Bryant or why he attacked her.

The punches knocked her eyeglasses off her face and her hearing aids out of her ears.

The pair ran off after the attack, police said.

Police tracked Bryant down later while investigating a report of a suspicious person in an empty East End home, authorities said.

Bryant was held on a $20,000 bond, authorities said.

Police did not say if the victim suffered any long-term injuries from the alleged attack.