Woman Arrested, Fired from Job After Video of Her Slapping Navy Sailor on 9/11 Anniversary Goes Viral

Lori Desjardins, 45, was arrested on Thursday for assaulting a member of the U.S. Navy at a pizzeria in Connecticut on the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A video of the incident went viral on social media and showed Desjardins yelling and cursing at Sean Nolte Jr., a submariner in the Navy. At one point, she tells him he disgusts her and calls him a "piece of s**t" before slapping him and accusing him of impersonating a service member.

Desjardins, who is from Southington, Connecticut, turned herself into police headquarters on Thursday, according to the Berlin, Connecticut, Police Department. She was served with an active arrest warrant but released on a $10,000 bond. She was charged with one count of third-degree assault and one count of breach of peace. Her next court appearance is scheduled for September 23.

After the video was widely disseminated on social media, the Berlin Police Department asked members of the public for help identifying the woman in the video. They asked anyone with information to submit a tip, but after days, they hadn't received any information. That changed on Thursday, though, and the police department said they received several tips that led to the "probable identity of the suspect."

lori desjardins police arrest 9/11 sailor assault
Lori Desjardins, 45, was arrested on Thursday for assaulting a Navy sailor on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Desjardins was also fired from her job after the arrest. Berlin Police Department

Newsweek reached out to the Berlin Police Department for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

In a Facebook post, Nolte said he went to the local pizza spot and was with a friend, whose family owns the restaurant when the woman came in. She was reportedly "constantly staring" at him and walked into and out of the restaurant multiple times. After getting her food, she told the staff that Nolte, who was wearing his uniform, is a "fake" and that her husband is in the Army.

"She kept claiming that my Military ID is fake, and proceeds to show me her DEPENDENT MILITARY ID, and screams, 'This is what your ID should look like,'" Nolte wrote in a Facebook post.

Assault in the third degree is considered a class A misdemeanor in Connecticut, the most serious misdemeanor, and is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and a year in jail. Desjardin reportedly told police she was not in the right frame of mind when the incident occurred and she's been dealing with ongoing mental health issues and a problem with alcohol, according to WFSB.

Desjardin reportedly worked for CVS Health, but the company told WTNH she was "no longer employed by the company" after her arrest.

The headline of this article has been updated to better reflect the woman's actions occurred on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and not on September 11, 2001.

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