Firefighter Charged In Rape Cases In Vernon, Manchester

VERNON/MANCHESTER, CT — A man identified as a Manchester firefighter has been arrested as part of a investigation started 19 years ago into a series of violent break-ins and sexual assaults in Vernon and Manchester.

On Wednesday, police arrested 47-year-old Angelo Alleano Jr., whose listed address is on Gerald Drive in Vernon. Alleano was charged under a "John Doe" warrant, signed in 2010, in connection with a series of sexual assaults in Manchester and Vernon. Police identified Alleano as a Manchester firefighter Thursday morning.

The arrest was announced by Vernon and Manchester police, prosecutors, local officials and state forensic experts at the Vernon Police Department. New genealogy technology was a key in pinning Alleano to the case, police said.

There are four cases cited in the warrant involving sexual assaults after home invasions:

• A 2001 attack involving an 84-year-old woman in Manchester
• A 2004 attack involving a 57-year-old woman in Manchester
• A 2007 attack involving a 37-year-old woman in Manchester
• A 2008 attack involving a 61-year-old woman in Vernon

Angelo Alleano Jr. (Vernon police)

According to the warrant, between 2001 and 2008, Manchester and Vernon police investigated a series of residential burglaries during which the invader sexually assaulted his victims. Police believed the four reported attacks were related and committed by the same person, the warrant said.

Because the identity of the suspect was unknown, police applied for a "John Doe" warrant that was signed in 2010. The warrant identified the suspect based on forensic evidence left at the scenes, police said.

Further information about the victims or the exact location of the crimes is not being released
to protect the privacy of the victims, said police, who added the investigation is ongoing.

Investigators said they recently used new "ancestry technology" to attempt to identify the "John Doe," who committed the sexual assaults.

Police said they worked with the Connecticut Forensic Lab and a genealogy service to analyze the evidence, and, based on that work, they identified Alleano and charged him.

The charges include four counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of second-degree burglary. Alleano's bond was set at $5 million (cash or surety) and he is slated to appear in Hartford Superior Court on Friday.

Police said Alleano was arrested after he came to the Vernon Police Department on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into an unrelated domestic violence offense. He was arrested in that case and charged with disorderly conduct, which carries a separate $100,000 bond, records show.

Police said a warrant was then granted for a DNA sample, which matched a "family tree" developed as the four rape cases were being investigated.

That DNA tree began forming after the 84-year-old victim in the first case called the Lifeline service to say she was sexually assaulted, according to the warrant. It was Aug. 6, 2001, according to testimony outlined in the warrant.

The woman then told police that between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. that day, a man entered her residence at the Squire Village housing complex in Manchester through an unlocked front door, put a pillow over her head, and sexually assaulted her on the couch. He then told her not to mention the incident to anyone.

Police then collected DNA samples at the scene, according to the warrant.

All four incidents were similar, police said.

The Vernon case occurred at an undisclosed address on Jan. 16, 2008. The woman said she had fallen asleep on a couch at about 1o p.m., and then remembers waking up to a pillow over her face, according to the warrant. A man who had entered the home then ordered her to a bedroom, where he put the pillow back over her and raped her, according to the warrant.

Evidence was collected at the scene, police said.

Police believe he was employed as a firefighter when the incidents occur.

Detectives are continuing to look into the case. Anyone with information on Alleano is being asked to contact Vernon Detective Thomas Van Tasel 860-872-9126 or Manchester Detective James Moore 860-645- 5500. Callers may remain anonymous, police said.

The arrest of Alleano was the result of a joint investigation between Manchester and Vernon police, the Connecticut Division of Scientific Services, Forensic Biology and DNA section, as well as the Tolland and Hartford county state's attorneys.

Police said they received assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Eastern Connecticut Health Network with evidence collection from the victims.