Firefighters and cops made a grisly discovery at 655 Whitney Ave. Saturday night.
The two-family home’s property manger went to the Whitney Avenue firehouse at 8:05 p.m. to report a bad odor coming from an apartment and flies buzzing around. Neighbors hadn’t seen the apartment’s occupants for a while.
Here’s what happened next, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman:
Cops and firefighters forced their way into the apartment, finding the place so cluttered with “piles of furniture, books and debris” that it was difficult to move around. In one room, they found the decomposed body of an elderly man.
Cops contacted the chief medical examiner’s office. Detectives put on personal protective clothing and respirators so they could make a more thorough search. When they did, they also found the body of a deceased woman.
“Based on a visual inspection, there seems to be nothing inherently suspicious about either death. The man was born in 1926. The woman, in 1938. It is believed, but not confirmed, that they were husband and wife,” Hartman reported. “The names of the deceased are not being released at this time as no next of kin have yet been found or identified.”
Around the same time, on the east side of town, firefighters were freeing a woman from a Jeep involved in a serious crash on Quinnipiac Avenue north of Kenny Drive.
Hartman offered this preliminary account:
“A pick-up truck with a utility body was being operated by a man and was traveling in the proper northbound lane. A woman, driving a Jeep was traveling south. The Jeep veered into the truck’s path and the vehicles collided. The crash was violent – breaking the axle of the truck and spinning it around. The Jeep rolled fully over and launched onto the front lawn of a home at 1453 Quinnipiac Ave.
“The woman was pinned in the Jeep, and firefighters spent some time freeing her. Her injuries are serious but at this time do not appear to be life threatening. The truck operator had only superficial wounds but was taken to the hospital as well for an evaluation. The involved person’s identities were not available for this report. It is likely the female operator is at fault and will be charged accordingly.”
Then, at 9:50 p.m., cops got a call about a robbery and assault Deli Haven market/New Haven Pizza at 796 George St. Here’s what happened next, in Hartman’s words:
Markeshia Ricks Photo
“As officers were arriving, Officer Caitlin Zerella (pictured) spotted a black man nearby counting a [bundle] of cash. When he spotted her, he took off running. She took off after him – chasing him several blocks to the rear of the Barnard School, where she tackled and detained him. Along the way, the fleeing man threw the cash up in the air.
“Meanwhile, back on George Street, officers were attending to the stabbing victim. The victim and witnesses told police that two men entered the deli. One had a knife, and when the clerk opened the cash register, he bum-rushed him and grabbed the cash from within. The clerk pushed him to the ground but the crook got up and fled. His cohort fled as well. The clerk from the pizza joint next door heard the commotion and confronted the fleeing men. One stabbed him in the arm with his knife.
“The assailant got away but his robbery accomplice was the one apprehended by Officer Zerrella. He is a 17-year-old who’s thought to live on Irving Street in New Haven. Officers are investigating the identity and whereabouts of the stabber. He’s described as a black man in his early 30s. He wore a red shirt and black denim jeans. The knife has been recovered by officers at the scene. The victim’s injury, a laceration to his arm, is not life-threatening.”
