Man Charged with Attempted Sex Assault Found in Darien

After Darien Police were alerted that Stamford police were looking for a man regarding a report of an attempted sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl near the Stamford-Darien border, police found a man who matched the description.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

The report from Stamford police came in at about 1:55 a.m. on Friday. They described the wanted man as 4 feet, 10 inches in height, wearing dark jeans, a sweater, a checkered shirt and black and white converse sneakers.

He was last seen near the intersection of Camp and Highview Avenues about a block away from the Darien border, just north of St. John Cemetery.

Darien police searched the area for the man, and a Stamford police canine was brought in to help.

Fifty minutes after the call to Darien police, at 2:45 a.m., Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson was patroling West Avenue, more than two miles away, when he saw a man who seemed to match the description. The man was walking up a driveway at 349 West Ave., just over two miles to the south of where he had last been seen.

The man, Alberto Garrido, 29, of New Jersey, was wearing a checkered shirt, dark jeans and black and white Converse brand sneakers. The man had been outside for some time, Johnson believed, because his ears were bright red and his nose was running.

Garrido initially gave his name as "Jose," and said he was trying to find a friend in Darien, although he couldn't remember quite where the friend lived.

When other officers arrived, Garrido changed his story, saying he was looking for a train station to go home to New York City. Although there seemed to be a bit of a language barrier, police said they believed he was being evasive.

Garrido had a cell phone on him, but he had removed the battery, possibly to avoid being tracked, police said.

The victim's father later identified Garrido as the man who had tried to assault his daughter.

Garrido was handed over to Stamford police, who charged him with second-degree criminal attempt at sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and disorderly conduct.