Dramatic bodycam footage captured the daring rescue of the alleged abused Connecticut man held captive by his depraved stepmom for 20 years as she stood and yelled at first responders exterior the burning “house of horrors.”
Waterbury Hearth Division members rushed to reviews of a fireplace within the western Connecticut enclave on Feb. 17, the place they have been met by Kimberly Sullivan holding one in every of her canines.
The 56-year-old lady was incoherently shouting as she stood toes away from her burning residence as one firefighter tried to get her to security, in keeping with video obtained by WFSB.
“My stepson is in here,” she instructed the firefighter. “I’m trying to help them get him out.”
A firefighter carried the 32-year-old, who solely weighed 68 kilos on the time, out of the burning residence as Sullivan was guided all the way down to the highway.
Sullivan was involved in regards to the welfare of her canine — as her stepson appeared limp within the arms of his rescuer.
“My dog is shaking,” Sullivan stated earlier than shouting on the firefighter carrying her stepson, “what are you doing?”
She was instructed to attend within the driveway as a bunch of first responders carried her malnourished stepson to an ambulance.
The video ended as the person was transferred to the awaiting stretcher.
He later instructed cops that he was locked in a 9-by-8 foot room on the second flooring of his residence for 22 hours a day during the last twenty years as his stepmom had deadbolts on the skin of his bed room door, solely permitting him out to do chores.
The sufferer confessed that he intentionally began the blaze as a result of he needed his “freedom.”
He defined utilizing hand sanitizer, paper, a stack of video games and a lighter, to set the fireplace close to his door, in keeping with criticism prices in opposition to Sullivan.
The malnourished sufferer, who solely obtained two sandwiches a day, had found the lighter a 12 months earlier whereas going by some garments owned by his late father.
He stated he needed to make the fireplace giant sufficient that his stepmother couldn’t extinguish it and be compelled to name 911.
“Once the fire got going good he started to stomp and yell for help. [He] stated that Sullivan yelled to him asking what he wanted and he told her ‘fire,’” in keeping with courtroom docs.
Sullivan unlocked the door to permit the person out of his room, the place he promptly collapsed on the prime of the steps.
Sullivan allegedly ordered him to clean his face in a rest room earlier than fleeing the home, as to disguise the true situation he was in.
The person’s sister and her boyfriend had arrived on the home across the similar time because the firefighters and have been allegedly ordered by Sullivan to take away the deadbolts from the room.
Court docket docs say the person purposefully fell to the ground, the place he stayed till firefighters entered the house to hold him out.
Sullivan was arrested on Wednesday after a close to months-long investigation into the horrid situations she allegedly put her stepson in.
She was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree illegal restraint, cruelty to individuals and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Sullivan’s legal professionals maintained her innocence whereas she blamed her late husband for the abuse.
“The allegations are horrific, but they are simply that: allegations,” lawyer Ioannis Kaloidis stated following the arrest. “They’re allegations made by one person that are largely uncorroborated by any independent evidence.”
“She is innocent and she has every intention of defending this case and we are confident she will be vindicated,” Kaloidis added.
Police in contrast the situations inside the home as one to a “horror movie.”
“The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo.
Sullivan posted a $300,000 bond lower than 24 hours after her arrest.
She has to endure day by day evaluations — and is prohibited from contacting her sufferer “in any manner,” in keeping with her launch situations.
