Man Who Claims to Be Jesus Charged With Breach of Peace

This article first appeared on Branford Patch.

This morning just after 9:30 a.m. Branford Police arrested an allegedly irrate man claiming to be Jesus.

Police arrested Mark A. Esposito, 52, of 470 East Main St. in Branford, after a Connecticut Transit Bus Company dispatcher called police and reported a disturbance on a bus while it was traveling on Route 1 by Alps Road.

When officers arrived they determined that Esposito entered the bus heading westbound on East Main Street by Business Park Drive just after 9:30 a.m.

Once on the bus, police said, Esposito began telling other passengers that he believed he was Jesus and his behavior soon became irrational and tumultuous to the point that passengers became alarmed and the driver contacted his dispatch center for police assistance.

The bus had pulled to the side of the roadway in the area of West Main Street and Alps Road, where some of the male passengers grouped together and assisted in ejecting Esposito from the bus, police said.

Esposito’s irrational behavior continued to escalate outside the bus, becoming more violent as he began smashing windows on the bus with his hands, police said. The incident attracted the attention of a number of customers and staff at a nearby business.

Esposito was charged with breach of peace and second-degree criminal mischief.  He was later transported to an area medical facility for further observation and treatment.

He is scheduled to appear in New Haven Superior Court on Dec. 27.