Police: Woman Saw Her Nephew Drinking, Didn't Stop Him -- and He's 10

A Darien woman, 33 years old, told police she saw her 10-year-old nephew drinking alcohol and didn’t stop him, police said.

Tina Tuccinardi of Edgerton Street was charged Tuesday, Dec. 9 with risk of injury to a minor, a felony, when police served an arrest warrant on her just after an appearance in state Superior Court in Stamford on another case.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

The boy’s mother, who lives in Norwalk, told police that she’d seen some incriminating text messages on her son’s cell phone and thought the boy’s aunt was providing alcohol and cigarettes. The boy visits the house where his aunt lives to see his father about three or four times a week.

In the text messages, the boy asked his aunt for alcohol and cigarettes. Police looked at the texts, spoke with the boy and his mother, and spoke with the aunt. The boy told police that he earns money by doing chores around the house and gave that money to his aunt to buy alcohol and cigaretters for him.

Tuccinardi said she never bought either alcohol or cigarettes for the boy or his brother, but she did say the boys had entered her bedroom when she was there, drinking alcohol that belonged to her father.

She didn’t stop the boys, she said, because she wanted to be a cool aunt.

They asked her to drink with them, but she refused, because she receives random screening of her urine samples, she told police. It was unclear in the police report what this referred to, but Tuccinardi has other court cases in Connecticut.

Police said that with the texts and Tuccinardi’s statements, they had enough information to charge Tuccinardi with one count of risk of injury to a minor, but not to a separate second count involving the boy’s brother.

In looking over the 10-year-old boy’s texts, police concluded that they didn’t have enough evidence to charge Tuccinardi with providing alcohol and cigarettes. The text messages were “one sided,” with the boy asking for them but not with Tuccinardi confirming that she’d get them.

The original complaint to police occurred on Oct. 10. The investigation and application for an arrest warrant, and then the granting of the arrest warrant took weeks, and then police decided to arrest Tuccinardi when she made a court appearance in Stamford.

The state Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident.

Tuccinardi was held on $7,500 bond on the risk of injury charge. Darien police also served her with two other warrants, each charging her with violation of probation. Bond for each of those warrants is $10,000. She did not make bond.

According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, Tuccinardi was charged by Darien police with breach of peace and second-degree violating conditions of release on March 16, and she pleaded guilty to those charges. At some point, in connection with those two charges, she also was charged with violation of probation.

Tuccinardi was also charged with violation of probation in connection with a Dec. 7, 2013 arrest by Darien police in which she was charged with disorderly conduct. She pleaded guilty to the original charge in that case.

Darien police said Tuccinardi was due in court on Dec. 18, but the Connecticut Judicial Branch website says the date is Dec. 17.