New Haven Independent

The scholar teaches at Yale. He rode his bike on Oct. 16 to an event at Albertus Magnus School off Prospect Street on the hillcrest dividing line between working-class Newhallville and the tony St. Ronan/Edgehill neighborhood. During the event, around 4:45 p.m. the scholar went outside to check on the bike, only to find a teen-ager making off with it. The scholar ran after him. He caught up with the boy — who was now surrounded by a five other teens. The bike thief proceeded to steal the scholar’s wallet before fleeing with the others.

The scholar called the cops, who sent Sgt. Romano Ratti searching the neighborhood for suspects. Ratti stopped a boy who fit the description on Newhall Street. Another cop picked up the scholar to make an i.d.

It would turn out that that kid didn’t fit the description. But on the way there, the scholar did see a boy walking down the street who, he said, was the one of the group members who mugged him. The police arrested him. The boy is 14 years old. He’s not the one who originally took the bike. Police charged him with robbery in the second degree, larceny in the second degree, conspiracy to commit robbery in the second degree and conspiracy to commit larceny in the second degree.

The other youths remain at large, according to police spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester. The police are still investigating the incident. The scholar didn’t get his Fila back.

The scholar declined a request to discuss the incident. “As a victim,
it’s painful to talk of anything about that horrible accident,” he wrote in an e-mail message. “It makes me feel like I am attacked again!”