Danbury man may avoid jail time in assault with aluminum bat in Wilton

Benjamin Aponte, a public defender in Stamford, said if Philibert manages to pay a $10,000 fine by his next court date on May 31, 2023, as well as avoid any further arrests, then he will do no jail time.

Judge Gary White, however, pointed out that if Philibert picks up any new arrests, fails to pay his fine, or receives a poor presentencing investigation report, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Philibert was arrested on Feb. 25, 2020, after Wilton police responded to reports of an early morning physical altercation at a Danbury Road parking lot that sent two people, as well as Philibert, to the hospital with injuries.

Police said the two other parties involved had rented out part of the parking lot at 991 Danbury Road for commercial purposes. In the three weeks leading up to the dispute, the couple said they had noticed someone was “repeatedly taking firewood” from their inventory, according to police.

So, the couple decided to stake out the area one night, police said.

Around 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 25, a black Hyundai Tiburon drove up and an individual, later identified as Philibert, began loading firewood into the back of the vehicle, police said.

Seeing this take place, the couple drove up on Philibert, pulling out aluminum bats as the confronted him. During the ensuing struggle, Philibert allegedly took one of the bats and beat the man and woman.

All three were later taken to Norwalk Hospital.

Philibert was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree assault, first-degree criminal trespass and sixth-degree larceny.

In addition to Philibert, the man and woman also were charged with second-degree breach of peace. Those cases were later dropped by prosecutors.