A former Fairfield town official who’s already facing domestic violence and animal cruelty charges was arrested again, this time for allegedly threatening police. Ray Neuberger was taken into custody Monday on charges of second-degree threatening and second-degree harassment. It was Neuberger’s third arrest since October, his fourth since 2018. He was released on $5,000 bond.

“In all of those cases, Mr. Neuberger has presented a pattern of behavior in which he threatens or makes threatening comments related to his arrest on text messages or via phone calls,” Chief Robert Kalamaras told News 12.

In this instance, Neuberger allegedly targeted the detective on his recent cases. Over the weekend, Neuberger texted, “You took my life brother. Give it back before I take yours,” according to his arrest warrant. The detective then got a series of texts Monday from spoofed numbers believed to be Neuberger. The messages included, "I promise you. Your [sic] gonna pay for what I didn't deserve. I PROMISE. I'll die for it," the warrant said.

“It's just not going to be tolerated,” stated Kalamaras. “Our officers are out there trying to do their job every day, trying to keep our community safe, and it's unfortunate that an individual who is suspected of crimes and gets arrested for those crimes has the ability to lash out at police officers.”

Another text allegedly threatened more than just the one detective. According to the warrant, it said, "Just learned what a chemical burn is. Should I do it to all the cops?"

That message references Neuberger's animal cruelty arrest in February. Police said he severely burned a cat with chemicals causing extensive injuries and her tail to be amputated. In October, Neuberger was charged for allegedly dousing a different cat in bleach and beating it to death. Both cats were his-then girlfriend's, whom he is also accused of assaulting in a separate incident.

Neuberger's first arrest came in 2018 after police said he abused two dogs who belonged to his fiancé at the time. Neuberger was accused of pouring boiling water on one dog and fracturing the other dog’s ribs. He served 43 days in jail and had to make a $25,000 donation to the Bridgeport Animal Shelter. In exchange, Neuberger received accelerated rehabilitation, a probation program which wiped the charges from his record.

Kalamaras told News 12 police also investigated Neuberger for prior harassment of a town official. According to the warrant, Neuberger sent “vulgar text messages” to the official in 2020. The warrant noted that Neuberger had helped with her campaign in 2018 but was immediately removed after his arrest. Kalamaras told News 12 Neuberger was told to cease contact with the official and that if he failed to obey, he could be arrested. Neuberger denied sending the texts but said he understood the warning, Kalamaras recalled.

The warrant also said Neuberger left a harassing voicemail in the summer/fall of 2022 for the detective who had arrested him in 2018. It came as the investigation into the cat’s death was underway. According to the warrant, “During the voicemail, Neuberger sounded aggravated, intoxicated, and stated, ‘Clear my [expletive] name. You put me through enough. You know who this is.”

Neuberger is set to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court on the newest charges on March 15. He still hasn't made his first appear on the latest animal cruelty arrest. Last week's snow day has pushed that until April when he returns to court on his other pending cases, too.

Neuberger is a former Representative Town Meeting member for Fairfield who served from 2013-2017. He also ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 2016.