New Haven Independent

Cop of the Week

Detective Solves Murder Mystery—& Can Retire

by Paul Bass | May 8, 2012 6:39 pm | Comments (6)

Joe Pettola couldn’t rest until he found out who killed basketball standout T.J. Mathis. Tuesday afternoon he brought good news to Mathis’ parents: He’d solved the case.

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“Ghost” Trail Leads To Dirt Bikers

by Paul Bass | Apr 20, 2012 2:09 pm | Comments (8)

A woman called the cops after seeing a dirt biker tear down Norton Street. Carlos Conceicao and Josh Kyle turned the corner wondering if the call was about the biker they’d been looking for. They had a “ghost” of an idea of how to catch him—on foot.

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For “Starsky & Hutch,” Armed Teen Was No Joke

by Paul Bass | Apr 9, 2012 11:18 am | Comments (1)

Finally, when the 6-foot-2 16-year-old who threatened to shoot him was safely behind bars, John Kaczor got behind the wheel of his cruiser. He turned to his partner in the passenger seat, Alex Morgillo. The two could finally relax. They could start joking as usual as they headed back to the night-time streets.

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Rivera Looks To The Left

by Paul Bass | Mar 23, 2012 2:00 pm | Comments (1)

The other cops checked out potential suspects at the basketball courts where a shoot-out had just occurred. Arriving in an unmarked car, Officer David Rivera focused on a man down the street—who kept looking over his shoulder.

Rivera knew that look.

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She Jumped The Fence. Again

by Paul Bass | Jan 13, 2012 2:07 pm | Comments (11)

Behind her, bullets were exploding from a burning car on I-95 off Exit 52. Ahead of her, the driver, whom she’d been chasing from the west side of New Haven, had fled into woods. A rickety 6-to-7-foot-high chain link fence blocked her path.

Piece of cake.

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“Shake ‘n’ Bake” Looks To Save The Next Quelly

by Paul Bass | Nov 11, 2011 3:27 pm | Comments (12)

A boy in Dixwell just turned 13. The older boys want him to hang out with them. They indulge in mischief. So Officer James Baker made the boy what he hopes is a better offer.

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Psst ... There’s The Thief. & Thanks

by Thomas MacMillan | Oct 28, 2011 11:56 am | Comments (6)

Officer Elvin Rivera was going through backyards off Wolcott Street “like a hound dog” trying to find an alleged purse-snatcher. He knew he was holed up somewhere nearby. Suddenly someone whispered to him through a fence: The guy’s hiding in the house on the corner.

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A Wipeout Loomed

by Paul Bass | Sep 19, 2011 1:28 pm | Comments (11)

The fleeing driver tore his Chevy HHR through the red light. Gunning his police-issue 2003 Harley Davidson Police Road King, Officer Robert DuPont followed fast behind. Then he saw the cars in the middle of the intersection. He saw all that sand in the road. He saw a wipeout in his immediate future—unless he could remember what he’d recently un-learned.

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The Texans Kept Circling

by Paul Bass | Aug 12, 2011 1:32 pm | Comments (27)

Stephanija VanWilgen was thinking about getting to work, not about stopping dangerous drivers behind the wheel, when she pulled up beside two Texans in a beat-up station wagon.

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He Had A Hunch—& A Ruse Or Two

by Paul Bass | Aug 5, 2011 11:30 am | Comments (17)

Down the block, a driver stopped short when he saw Juan Ingles’ cop car. Ingles couldn’t see the driver well; the driver couldn’t see him. Fatefully, each guessed the other’s thoughts and plotted their next moves.

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