Joseph Cirella pinned pregnant fiancee on overpass, cops say

February 21, 2016 By Laura Figueroa   laura.figueroa@newsday.com

Joseph Cirella, 50, of Bethpage, was arrested and charged with felony assault, unlawful imprisonment and other charges shortly after 2:20 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, state troopers said. (Credit: NYSP)

A Bethpage man was charged by New York State Troopers on Saturday after he allegedly tried to pin his pregnant fiancee with his car against the wall of a Northern State Parkway overpass.

Joseph Cirella, 50, of Bethpage, was arrested and charged with felony assault, unlawful imprisonment and other charges shortly after 2:20 p.m. Saturday, state troopers said. A trooper reportedly saw Cirella using his Dodge Caravan to pin his fiancee against the wall of a bridge overpass near Exit 32 of the Northern State Parkway.

The woman was “frantically screaming” when the trooper ordered Cirella to move his car. The woman, who is fourteen weeks pregnant, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where she was treated and released.

The woman told authorities she became frightened by Cirella’s erratic driving, and asked him to pull over so she could get out. She said he initially refused to let her out, but then tried to push her out of the moving car onto the parkway. The woman escaped the car while it was moving, but Cirella then pinned her against the overpass wall.

Cirella is also charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing, second-degree reckless endangerment, and driving while ability impaired by drugs. He was arraigned Saturday in Nassau First District Court in Hempstead, where he was ordered held under $20,000 bail, cash or bond, which as of Sunday night had not been posted, according to court records.

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