Re-arrest ordered for former CT probate judge after he fails to appear in court on DUI charge

By Bruno Matarazzo Jr.

NAUGATUCK — A judge issued a re-arrest order for a former probate judge after he failed to appear in court on Thursday on a drunken driving charge.

Peter Mariano, 64, of Waterbury, was arrested on Oct. 26, 2024 after Naugatuck police said officers responded to Hillside Avenue for a report of a man sleeping in the driver's seat of a car on the road.

He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs and the illegal use of another to bypass an ignition interlock device, and released on $2,500 bond.

Mariano was arrested near his former home on Hillside Avenue, which he recently sold for $500,000, according to the police report and borough assessment records.

Mariano failed to appear in court on the charges Thursday and Judge Jane Grossman ordered Mariano be re-arrested. The judge set his bond at $100,000. The judge said she would vacate the re-arrest if he appeared in court before 4 p.m.

Mariano served three terms as judge in Probate Court District 21, which serves Beacon Falls, Prospect, Middlebury and Naugatuck. Probate courts oversee estates and trusts and handle a wide range of issues affecting children, the elderly and people with psychiatric disabilities.

In 2022, he was sentenced to two counts of operating under the influence as a first offender and reckless endangerment on charges from last year. He served four days in jail earlier this year.

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Re-arrest ordered for former CT probate judge after he fails to appear in court on DUI charge