A Connecticut man accused of attacking the owners of a local gay bar was sentenced to 90 days in prison last week after a jury convicted him of second-degree breach of peace.

On Friday, March 27, 38-year-old Carmen Everett Parisi received a six-month sentence, which will be suspended after serving 90 days followed by two years’ probation, The Hour reports. Among other conditions of his probation, Parisi will be required to undergo substance use treatment and mental health counseling.

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Parisi was arrested in October 2022, nearly three weeks after he allegedly attacked Casey Fitzpatrick and Nicholas Ruiz, the owners of Norwalk, Connecticut, gay bar Troupe429.

In an October 2022 statement posted on the bar’s website — which appears to have been deleted — the married couple alleges that on September 23, 2022, Parisi “repeatedly harassed and made several female patrons and our staff uncomfortable” during a drag show. While being “respectfully escorted outside,” Fitzpatrick and Ruiz claimed that Parisi “repeatedly made disparaging statements about the bar and the people inside it, and used derogatory and anti-LGBTQ words” before becoming “violent.”

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“Nicholas tried to grab the suspect and was repeatedly punched in the right side of his face. His face around his eye and cheek was torn open, requiring a trip to the emergency room, and surgery of over 50 stitches,” the statement, which was accompanied by a photo of a bloodied Ruiz in hospital, claimed.

According to the couple, Norwalk Police arrived, handcuffed Parisi, and put him in a police vehicle. However, Parisi was reportedly neither arrested nor charged until the day after Fitzpatrick and Ruiz posted their statement.

In the weeks between the incident at Troupe429 and Parisi’s arrest, Norwalk Police Lt. Terry Blake told The Hour that the department had “been conducting all the necessary steps within the investigative process, including obtaining video evidence from inside the bar and attempting to get sworn statements from the two victims.”

Parisi was charged with second-degree assault, third-degree assault, and two counts of second-degree breach of peace, according to The Hour. Investigators reportedly determined that a hate crime charge was not justified. But a jury acquitted Parisi of all but one count of second-degree breach of peace.

Parisi’s attorney, Dominick Angotta, argued that after an initial altercation at the bar, Parisi made his intention to leave clear. Angotta claimed that the bar’s owners and some patrons followed him, leading to a second fight in which Fitzpatrick and Ruiz were injured. Angotta argued that Parisi had a right to defend himself, according to The Hour.

In their October 2022 statement, Fitzpatrick and Ruiz claimed that Parisi ordered a single drink at Troupe429, which he did not finish. But Angotta argued that the facts in the case indicated that Parisi was intoxicated, The Hour reports.

Fitzpatrick and Ruiz have not commented on the sentencing publicly.

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