Third arraignment in less than a week for suspect in Bridgeport baseball bat beating

The court appearance Friday was due to similar alleged behavior at the courthouse the day before while Sulaiman was awaiting his arraignment in the domestic violence case.

Marissa Alter

Oct 1, 2024, 11:20 PM

Updated 6 days ago

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A Bridgeport man accused of brutally beating his wife and her two young sons with a baseball bat was arraigned for the third time in less than a week. Abdulrahim Sulaiman, 38, was arraigned virtually Tuesday for another alleged attack on judicial marshals at Bridgeport Superior Court. Sulaiman wasn’t allowed in the courtroom due to safety concerns.
There were no outbursts from Sulaiman as he went before Judge Mary Elizabeth Reid through a screen on charges of assault of a public safety officer and disorderly conduct.
Sulaiman is accused of spitting at a judicial marshal on his way into the courtroom Friday, hitting the marshal's eye, mouth and cheek. He had to wear a spit hood at that hearing and continued to be a disruption, leading Judge William Holden to have him removed from the courtroom. Sulaiman allegedly continued to struggle with marshals after and cut one of them on the arm. Court documents said Sulaiman’s blood was found on the spit hood and the holding room floor, which caused additional concerns after the Judicial Marshal Service learned Sulaiman was positive for infectious diseases. Sulaiman was ordered to undergo an HIV test.
The court appearance Friday was due to similar alleged behavior at the courthouse the day before while Sulaiman was awaiting his arraignment in the domestic violence case.
“This individual while down in lockup slapped one of the marshals in the face and spit on one of the other marshals,” Supervisory State’s Attorney Craig Nowak said Thursday, as Sulaiman was arraigned on three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault, two counts of risk of injury and criminal possession of a firearm.
On Wednesday morning just before 10 a.m., Bridgeport police responded to an apartment at the corner of Main Street and Capital Avenue after receiving multiple 911 calls, including one from Sulaiman's wife.
"Please help! He's hitting us with a bat! My kids! My kids! My son! Please help us! Please! Please!" she begged, according to the police report, which noted screaming and banging in the background of the call.
Arriving officers arrested Sulaiman as he was walking away from the building. Police said the two boys, ages 4 and 6, had to be airlifted to the hospital and the older one was initially unresponsive.
“I can disclose that the likelihood of survival of this individual is close to zero,” Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Craig Nowak told the court Thursday. “At that point in time, if and when this individual dies, the state of Connecticut is prepared and will be filing information for murder with special circumstances.”
On Monday, police said the other child and his mother had been released from the hospital, but the older boy remained in critical condition.
Sulaiman’s wife told police he’d accused her of cheating on him and had been smoking PCP for days, the report stated. She also said he previously beat her and threatened to kill her and her children.
According to the report, police searched the apartment and found a handgun wrapped in a blanket in the kitchen area.
“The defendant has a past history of violence, not just in this state but in the state of New Jersey, where he did seven years for aggravated assault,” Nowak said Thursday.
Sulaiman has several prior convictions in Connecticut. In September 2022, he pleaded guilty to assault of a police officer, risk of injury to a child and violation of a protective order. He was sentenced to two years in prison and four years of probation. Sulaiman was also previously convicted of engaging police in a pursuit, larceny and drug possession. He was on probation at the time of his arrest in the domestic violence case.
“I would imagine violations of probation warrants would be coming forthwith for Mr. Sulaiman,” Judge Reid said during Tuesday’s hearing.
Reid added $50,000 to Sulaiman’s already $11 million bond. All three cases have been transferred to the Bridgeport Judicial District courthouse on Main Street due to the seriousness of the domestic violence allegations. Reid said she’d leave it to judges there to determine if Sulaiman’s future hearings should remain virtual. He’s due in court next on Oct. 10.