New Haven Independent

Lakeya Smith parked her ‘97 Nissan Ultima in the Dixwell Plaza parking lot behind the Elks Club — the car her mom pays for. And while Smith and her friend were inside the library, somebody smashed all the windows. To bits.

What a mess.

And she had a pretty good idea who did it. So she put the cops on the case.

The incident unfolded around 3 p.m. Tuesday. Smith, who’s 19, was at the Plaza with Shandra Newton. They went first to Mid-K Beauty Supply, then to the Stetson branch library. When they returned to the car, they found the back windshield and side windows completely shattered. The front windshield (pictured) was mostly shattered, but remained tenuously in place in a web/ bull’s eye pattern.

Newton’s cell phone and keys were also gone. She had left them behind in the car.

People said they saw three girls dash away toward the Monterey Place homes. Smith and Newton were sure they knew who it was, girls who fit the description — girls they’d been feuding with since they were all in Hillhouse High School.

They returned to the library.They called boyfriends and parents. They saw Sgt. Anthony Duff out front and told him what happened. He went around to the back, to the parking lot, to investigate, calling for back-up.

Along the way he spoke to people who saw the female window-smashers flee. They gave a general description. One had a ponytail. One had a Dunkin’ Donuts outfit on. Smith and Newton spoke about the feud that began in 11th grade. The feud has continued even after graduation, when Smith is back in town.

“Ideally we’d like to make an arrest before this becomes something” bigger, said Duff, who’s the police department’s Dixwell district manager.

Officer Lucille Roach, a Dixwell beat cop, arrived. She conferred with Duff, then took statements from the two young women.

Soon after, Maryann Jones, Lakeya’s mom, arrived, too. She flew into a rage, first at her daughter, who tried to explain what happened. “I don’t give a fuck! I don’t care! You’re hanging around with the wrong people!” she yelled at her. She told her daughter that she’d have to pay for the new windshields and windows.

Officer Roach spoke to her about the facts in the case. Jones calmed down. “She’s in college,” she said of her daughter. “She keeps around with the wrong people. But she’s not like that.” She spoke of how her daughter attends Briarwood College — she pointed to the decal still preserved in the smashed back window now in pieces on the back seat. “My daughter’s studying criminal justice. I get good reports.”

She spoke of the feud that began in 11th grade. Lakeya’s best friend got into a fight — maybe over a boy — with a girl from the other group. Lakeya remains close to her friend. Whenever Lakeya returns to New Haven on break, the feud re-erupts, she said. And Lakeya gets drawn in. One time she was stabbed with glass from a bottle. “She’s got two jobs,” she said of her daughter. “And she” — one of the girls on the other side of the feud — “has two babies.”

Jones said she was at home in Fair Haven, preparing to go to her job as a nurse’s aide, when she got the call Tuesday about the accident. She rushed over. “I can’t afford this!” she cried. She said she bought the car for her daughter and pays the insurance. “I switched to Geico yesterday. They’re not going to pay for this. I don’t have full coverage.”

“I can’t afford this” she said again, to Officer Roach. “I want them” — the windshield-breakers — “arrested.”

Roach explained that at this point she couldn’t make an arrest. While witnesses in the plaza saw some girls rush away, no one actually saw the incident. “You folks know in your heart who did this. But at this point my hands are tied,” she told Jones, Smith, and Newton. She promised to document in full their story in the police report. Click on the play arrow to watch her explanation.

Mom relaxed, even broke a smile.

Shandra Newton’s father was on the scene, too. He, like others assembled in the lot, was working the cell phone. He reported that the fleeing young women were spotted at Dixwell and West Division. Jones, Smith, and Newton hopped into Roach’s car. They drove over to Dixwell and West Division to question the girls — and to see if they had Newton’s cell phone and keys on them.

The suspects denied breaking the windshield. They didn’t have Newton’s keys or phone on them. Other cops arrived and brought the suspects back to Dixwell Plaza. But they parked way at the other end, to avoid any confrontations.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Duff checked with Gary Hogan of the Elks Club to see if a security camera had been on. No luck. He checked C-Town’s surveillance camera; wrong angle for where the Altima was parked.

Then Duff went across Webster Street to a front porch where a large multi-generational family often hangs out. He knows them. They’d seen the women flee the original scene. He tried to convince them into coming to look at the suspects in the car to make an i.d.

He brought along crayons and “junior police” coloring books he keeps in the trunk alongside some stuffed animals, usually for children who’ve witnessed violence or fled from a fire. The older family members on the porch declined to make an i.d. Duff left the books with the small kids.

Meanwhile, Officer Roach chatted with Lakeya’s mom.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” Roach asked her.

“Did you arrest me?”

“No! From James Street.”

“Oh! You’re Jackie’s sister! You’ve grown up!”

The cops checked to see if the suspects had any outstanding warrants. They didn’t. So, without any hard evidence or eyewitnesses, the cops let them go. Roach broke the news to Lakeya, her mom, and Newton.

She threw in an admonition to the young women, to avoid their rivals and leave the feud behind them. “Somebody is going to get badly hurt before it stops,” she said. “You guys need to let it go.” Click on the play arrow to watch.

Mom went off again at her daughter, telling her she was going to have to pay for the damage. Officer Roach calmed her down once more. “God will help you figure out” what to do,” she said.

Mom finished clearing the glass out of the car, then drove the open-air Altima to the shop.

For the record, the sunroof emerged untouched.