Dramatic bodycam footage captured the daring rescue of the alleged abused Connecticut man held captive by his wicked stepmom for 20 years as she stood and yelled at first responders outside the burning “house of horrors.”
Waterbury Fire Department members rushed to reports of a fire in the western Connecticut enclave on Feb. 17, where they were met by Kimberly Sullivan holding one of her dogs.
The 56-year-old woman was incoherently shouting as she stood feet away from her burning home as one firefighter attempted to get her to safety, according to video obtained by WFSB.
“My stepson is in here,” she told the firefighter. “I’m trying to help them get him out.”
A firefighter carried the 32-year-old, who only weighed 68 pounds at the time, out of the burning residence as Sullivan was guided down to the road.
Sullivan was concerned about the welfare of her dog — as her stepson appeared limp in the arms of his rescuer.
“My dog is shaking,” Sullivan said before shouting at the firefighter carrying her stepson, “what are you doing?”
She was told to wait in the driveway as a group of first responders carried her malnourished stepson to an ambulance.
The video ended as the man was transferred to the awaiting stretcher.
He later told cops that he was locked in a 9-by-8 foot room on the second floor of his home for 22 hours a day over the last two decades as his stepmom had deadbolts on the outside of his bedroom door, only allowing him out to do chores.
The victim confessed that he deliberately started the blaze because he wanted his “freedom.”
He explained using hand sanitizer, paper, a stack of games and a lighter, to set the fire near his door, according to complaint charges against Sullivan.
The malnourished victim, who only got two sandwiches a day, had discovered the lighter a year earlier while going through some clothes owned by his late father.
He said he had to make the fire large enough that his stepmother couldn’t extinguish it and be forced to call 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,’” according to court docs.
Sullivan unlocked the door to allow the man out of his room, where he promptly collapsed at the top of the stairs.
Sullivan allegedly ordered him to wash his face in a bathroom before fleeing the house, as to disguise the true condition he was in.
The man’s sister and her boyfriend had arrived at the house around the same time as the firefighters and were allegedly ordered by Sullivan to remove the deadbolts from the room.
Court docs say the man purposefully fell to the floor, where he stayed until firefighters entered the home to carry him out.
Sullivan was arrested on Wednesday after a near months-long investigation into the horrid conditions she allegedly put her stepson in.
She was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and first-degree reckless endangerment.
Sullivan’s lawyers maintained her innocence while she blamed her late husband for the abuse.
“The allegations are horrific, but they are simply that: allegations,” attorney Ioannis Kaloidis said 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 compared the conditions inside the house 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 less than 24 hours after her arrest.
She has to undergo daily evaluations — and is prohibited from contacting her victim “in any manner,” according to her release conditions.
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