Dozens of people gathered outside the Stonington Police Department to show support for Crystal Caldwell, a Mystic hotel worker who was assaulted while working on June 26.
People at the rally say they want justice for Caldwell. Police said Monday they have arrested the suspects accused in the attack.
Stonington Police say they are working with other law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend the two suspects, Philip Sarner and Emily Orbay. Neither Sarner nor Orbay has a known permanent address but both are believed to be from Nassau County, New York.
The state's attorney has upgraded the charges against the couple. Sarner faces charges of second-degree assault, third-degree assault, and intimidation based on bigotry and bias. Orbay faces third-degree assault and intimidation based on bigotry and bias.
Authorities have released 911 calls from the incident.
According to the recordings, the first call came from a colleague of Crystal Caldwell at the Quality Inn in Mystic. The woman tells a dispatcher that a guest was "beating up on my desk clerk." She goes on to add, "he is smacking my desk clerk around." Another voice is heard in the background of the call saying, "I want him arrested now."
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Moments after receiving that call, dispatchers received another call. One of the hotel guests involved in the assault, who has now been identified as one of the suspects, called police and said, "I was just assaulted by staff." A dispatcher asks how he was assaulted. He replies, "punching my head... It is on camera."
Caldwell and her attorney were at the rally today, where Caldwell says she is having symptoms of PTSD related to the assault’s trauma.
"It's just hard to turn it off. I see it on TV, I do not watch the television. I do not watch the videos. I ask people to not send me the videos, I'll wait till my day when we go to court," Caldwell said.
As it relates to the search, Caldwell’s attorney says Stonington Police are working with U.S. Marshals and the New York Police Department to locate the suspects. The attorney says they have some leads and are hopeful the widespread media coverage will help locate the suspects soon.
