The man accused of brutally beating a family member and her two young children with a baseball bat in Bridgeport last week appeared in court for the third time in less than a week on new charges.
Abdulrahim Sulaiman, 38, of Bridgeport, is facing new charges, including assault of a public safety official and disorderly conduct after allegedly spitting on and slapping court marshals during two arraignments.
“This is now the third arraignment in less than a week for Mr. Sulaiman,” a state’s attorney said in the courtroom Tuesday.
He’s facing charges including attempted murder and while arraigned on those charges Thursday, he is accused of assaulting the marshals while in lockup. When arraigned Friday on those new charges, Sulaiman allegedly assaulted an officer again. Sulaiman appeared in court virtually on Tuesday.
His total bond is now set at $11,050,000.
Bridgeport police said Tuesday that the 33-year-old victim was released from the hospital along with her 4-year-old child. Her 6-year-old child remains in critical condition.
Family members of the children told NBC Connecticut that the 6-year-old is on life support, and they’ve made the difficult decision to take him off life support in the coming days.
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Police said domestic violence is a growing problem in Bridgeport and across the state. They’re hosting a symposium Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the University of Bridgeport along with the Center for Family Justice.
“The timing for having this symposium was something that we didn’t plan on purpose,” said Debra Greenwood, from the Center for Family Justice. “We’ll be talking about and educating individuals not only on where to get help, what domestic violence looks like, the definition of it, and we’re gonna talk about the wraparound services we have and the partnership we have with the Bridgeport Police Department.”
They’re hoping to save even one life from tragedies like last week’s.
“It’s important to know you can reach out on our hotline 365 days a year. Call that hotline and understand there’s someone on the other side that can walk you through what you need to do to become safe and we can protect you.”
The Center is also planning a vigil on October 9 at the Bridgeport Amphitheatre for those who’ve lost their lives to domestic violence this year.
The 24-hour domestic violence hotline is 203-384-9559. You can also visit the Center for Family Justice website here.
