New Haven Independent

Hotspot Targeted

Under the supervision of new district manager Lt. Jeff Hoffman, arrests were made at an notorious drug hotspot in the East Shore. In a car at the Sunoco gas station at Rt. 80 and Quinnipiac Avenue, police found 11 pieces of crack in plain view, according to Avery. Two arrests were made, one after a foot pursuit.

Also in the East Shore, cops found a white car with a missing bumper and an alarm going off. They saw a man duck into a house, where he allegedly stashed a gun. The suspect was arrested by Officers W. Bailey and J. Smeczysky on gun and burglary charges.

Keep Your Keys

There’s been a dramatic spike in car thefts in two parts of town: East Rock and Fair Haven, Avery said.

In the past 28 days, a total of 30 cars were stolen from the East Rock/Newhallville police district, Avery said. That’s double the amount stolen last year, 15, during the same 28-day period.

Most of the cars that were stolen were in East Rock as opposed to Newhallville, Avery said. More than half occurred because owners had left their keys in the car, often with the car running while doing an errand or warming up the car, he said.

In Fair Haven, thefts jumped from 11 in 2007 to 24 in 2008 in the 28-day period, an increase of 118 percent, Avery said. Again, keys left in the car, especially as people pop into convenience stores, was a large factor behind the thefts.

To citizens who don’t want their cars ripped off, police issued this warning:

* Park your car in a well-lit place.
* Always lock your doors when the vehicle is unattended.
* Use your car alarm if you have one. If not, you might consider having an anti-theft device installed.
* Install a club-type device. This isn’t always fool proof but it requires a thief to work harder at stealing your car and perhaps they will move on, leaving your car alone.
* Use a kill switch-type anti-theft system.
* Never leave your car running while you are going into a service station or convenience store, It only take seconds for a thief to jump in and drive away.
* Don’t ignore a car alarm that is going off.
* Report all suspicious people in your area to the police.

If you see suspicious activity in your area, please call the New Haven Police at 946-6316.