Meriden Man Sentenced For Brutal South Windsor Assault

Meriden’s Nathaniel Chambers, 29, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the brutal 2013 assault of two men working at a South Windsor auto repair shop, according to the Hartford Courant.

The Courant reports Chambers received the maximum sentence under a plea deal he made in June for going to Forced Induction Motorsports, with three other men, and assaulting owner Robert Lareau, 28 (at the time), and employee Ryan Kelleher, 21, on Jan. 8, 2013.

Both Lareau and Kelleher were in court on Tuesday and made statements to the judge.

Kelleher said that in addition to the injuries he sustained, he basically lost his best friend that night “because although Bob survived, he’s not the same Bob he was before the trauma,” according to the Courant.

Lareau said that Chambers destroyed his life and he’s had to relearn how to speak English and how to read, according to the Courant.

Chambers had told police that he went to the shop because of an ongoing dispute with Lareau and claimed that he paid Lareau for work on a car that was never done.

Both Lareau and Kelleher were struck with an exhaust pipe and the attacks resulted in “skull fractures, bleeding of the brain and other serious injuries” to both victims, according to previous Patch reports.

South Windsor police obtained an arrest warrant for Chambers but he remained at large until he was arrested Jan. 15, 2013 after checking himself into the Veterans Hospital in West Haven, where he sought treatment for the flu.

Meriden brothers Luis Miguel Ruiz and Francisco Gabriel Ruiz received suspended sentences for their parts in the assault, which were considered to be minor, and they provided key information to police that ultimately led to the convictions of Chambers and Jose Luis Ramos, who carried out the beatings.

Read the full story on Tuesday’s sentencing at the Hartford Courant here.