Seven years after his brother was killed, cops found a man back on the block, waving a gun and looking for revenge.
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman:
At 11:16 p.m. on Wednesday, Officers Bobby Jones, Michael Lozada and Jeffrey King responded to a report of a man brandishing a gun at the corner of Blake Street and Whittlesey Avenue. The three cops spotted a man with a gun in his right hand.
The man threw the gun to the ground when he saw the officers. Officer Jones ordered the man to lie on the ground, but he refused and swore at the cops. Jones took him down with a “leg sweep.” The 29-year-old fought with the cops, who managed to handcuff him.
Cops also recovered the gun, a .22-caliber pistol that had been stolen in Meriden on Nov. 5, 2011. Cops arrested the man, a convicted felon, on three gun crimes, including the theft of the pistol.
“When asked why he was there with the gun in his hand, he replied, ‘My cousin got killed on this block a few years back and I’m looking for who did it,’” Hartman said. “He claimed he was looking for revenge.”
A woman who claimed to be the man’s aunt told cops that his brother had been killed in the area seven years ago in January. “For the past several days, she said, [the man] has been standing at the intersection, ‘high on PCP,’ holding a handgun,” Hartman said. “The woman said [the man’s] uncle had taken one gun from him a few days ago and turned it in to the New Haven Police Department at the recent gun buy-back day (29 December, 2012).”
In other police news, according to Hartman:
Fugitive Apprehended: At around midnight on Wednesday, Officer Francisco Ortiz had a chance meeting with a man who gave him a false name. After a records check and looking at a photo forwarded by the New York State Correctional Service, Ortiz determined the man was being sought in New York state for violation of parole. He took him into custody, where he “awaits extradition to the Empire State,” Hartman said.
Van Dome Arrest: Police arrived at Van Dome Nightclub on Hamilton Street just an hour into the New Year to arrest a woman who was attacking bouncers after she was asked to leave. Officer Michael Styles saw the woman swinging at and kicking club security as they tried to control her. He handcuffed the 28-year-old Hamden woman.
Styles found black-handled straight razor in the woman’s waistband. She told him she needed a weapon because New Haven is a dangerous city. Styles charged her with breach of peace and a weapons crime.
For block-by-block year-to-date crime info, check the Independent’s Crime Log.
