NAUGATUCK, Conn. — A reward for information that leads up to an arrest in the assault and robbery of an elderly man in Naugatuck last summer has gone up.
Just weeks after the initial reward was offered, the police department announced Wednesday it was increasing the reward to $2,500.
Jack Hutt, the 86-year-old victim of the assault, told FOX61 News last month that he hopes the extra money will encourage someone to come forward.
According to police, the assault and robbery happened just before 6 p.m. on June 6, 2023, at the Oak Terrace Apartments on Conrad Street in Naugatuck.
Hutt said he was violently attacked by someone who slipped into the front door of his apartment. He said the suspect put him into a choke hold and eventually stole $900 from him before running out.
“It’s almost like, I thought he knew that the money was in my right-hand pocket. Because he went right there for it," Hutt told FOX61 News last month.
Hutt said it happened 15 minutes after his twice-weekly aide left for the day. He has not worked with her since. To this day, he's still suffering from bruises on his head and a badly busted eye.
“I was black and blue, that’s when all of this broke out over here. And it hurt. It hurt like hell. It was a deep, deep bruise-type thing on the whole side of my head," Hutt said.
It wasn't the first time something like this had happened to him, Hutt said.
About a week before the June assault and robbery, someone broke into his apartment and attacked him in the middle of the night. But with his bad eyesight, he couldn't make out what that person looked like.
Hutt said he woke up to someone fidgeting with his back door handle, and he warned them not to come in.
"The next thing I know, I was bluffing, they called my bluff, and the door swung open, and somebody came rushing through it," Hutt said.
He did not file a police report for that first attack. He said, however, that he is not living in fear.
“Faith and fear are not compatible. So, if I have faith, I have no fear," Hutt said.
The reward money is in collaboration with the Water-Oak Crime Stoppers to help find those responsible.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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