New Haven Independent

In East Rock, a 56-year-old woman was struck by a car while waiting for the bus at 7:30 a.m. on Orange Street. In the Edgewood area of town, a man was shot in the stomach while struggling with a man who tried to rob his corner store. Also Friday, cops caught New Haven’s most wanted criminal.

Ana DeLosangeles (pictured above) was making a decaf latte at 7:30 a.m. Friday when she heard a crash.

“I heard a noise like, oh my god, the sky is going down,” recalled the barista and pastry chef, mopping the floor at Lulu’s coffeeshop at Cottage and Orange Streets Friday afternoon.

One car, driving down Cottage Street, blew a stop sign, according to a police report. The car was T-boned by a southbound car on Orange Street, then flew out of control.

The car hit a woman who was waiting for a city bus on Orange Street. Then the car plowed into the front porch of 711 Orange St. (pictured).

A regular patron, who also happened to be a doctor, was looking out the window and saw the crash, DeLosangeles said.

“The lady flew two to three feet in the air,” she said. The doctor rushed to help the victim. She was lying on the corner. She appeared to have two broken legs, but her heart was still beating, DeLosangeles reported.

Police said the woman, a 56-year-old New Haven resident, was taken to the hospital and remained serious but not life-threatening condition Friday afternoon. Neighbors said she had been hit once before, about 20 years ago, by a motorcycle.

Safety officials had to extricate the offending driver from his crushed car, according to the barista, who watched it happen from the window of the coffeeshop. The mood that morning was tense, she said. “Everybody was in shock.”

A Robbery Struggle

Hours later in Edgewood, at 2:26 p.m., a man burst into the Norton Package Store at 1566 Chapel St. The man announced it was a robbery, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avery.

The owner, whom police did not identify, decided to fight the robber, Avery said. A struggle ensued. The owner got shot in the stomach. The robber fled. Police are still investigating the crime and are “following several leads.” Meanwhile, the store owner remains in serious condition at an area hospital.

Wanted Suspect Arrested

And police caught up with a wanted suspect after a search early Friday. City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga reports [suspect’s name redacted]:

“This morning at 6:00 AM police apprehended a 22-year-old of 42 Warner St, a wanted suspect, who was found hiding in a closet at residence on Salem Street. He was a New Haven’s Most Wanted Criminal whom police sought in connection with the December 29th, 2006 shooting of Andre Whitfield, an incident that took place on Foote St in the Dixwell policing district. The apprehension was a joint effort with the New Haven Police Detective Division and the US Marshal’s Connecticut Violent Fugitive Task Force.

The suspect was charged with:
- Assault 1st
- Reckless endangerment 1st degree
- Possession of a pistol or revolver
- Carrying a pistol without a permit

He is being held on a $200,000 dollar bond.”