Cops Chase Gunman
Fleeing Occupy Tents

A group of young men, one of them carrying a gun, caused havoc at Occupy New Haven overnight before fleeing in a police chase.

Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman:

The incident began at the Occupy New Haven encampment on the upper Green around 1 a.m. They said a group of men were kicking their tents and walking through the area. ​“Wake up!” they yelled. One occupier, Justin Sabatino, confronted them — and had a gun pointed at him in response. Occupier Henry Rodriguez told Officer Gene Trotman what happened; the group of invaders then ran on Elm Street toward York.

Officer Michael Pepe was there. He tried to stop them. One of the men fleeing, a 22-year-old New Havener, headed toward Park Street, climbed a fence, dropped a gun, retrieved it, then hid.

New Haven Yale cops cordoned the area off. Officer Pepe saw the man head toward Broadway; the chase was on again. ​“Observant” Yale cops caught him at 51 Broadway. The Man ​“struggled as he was taken into custody” and ​“kept reaching for his waistband. When [he] was caught, he had, in his waist-band, a loaded .380 Cobra, CA-380, semi-automatic hand gun, black baseball gloves & a knit ski mask. The serial number on the gun had been altered.” He was charged with, among other offenses, three weapons violations.

Witnesses have a description for cops of two alleged muggers, one of them armed, who robbed a man on Grand Avenue around 11;40 a.m. Thursday. Officer Edward Dunford, patrolling Grand Avenue, encountered the victim almost immediately after the mugging. The victim pointed out the men in the distance. ​“Dunford gave chase, but the robbers’ lead was too great to make up the distance,” according to Hartman’s written summary of the incident. ​“Dunford was, however able to return the victim’s sneakers, sweatshirt & scarf. Those, along with cash and a cell phone, had been taken by the perpetrators during the robbery. The two robbers are said to be local guys.”

“Were You Smoking Weed?”

Here’s Hartman’s depiction of a Tuesday evening episode that began around 8:45:

“Officers Martin Feliciano, Ryan McFarland & Pedro Colon, each one of whom is assigned to the NHPD’s Street Interdiction Unit (SIU), pulled over a car for a moving violation in the area of Forbes Avenue & Long Wharf Drive. Once car side, officers smelled the sharp odor of burnt marijuana.

“‘Were you smoking weed?’” Officer McFarland asked the driver.

“‘Yes… about an hour ago,’” replied a seemingly nervous … 20 year old Fountain Street resident.

“McFarland asked [him] if there was more in the car. ​‘Any drugs? Any weapons?’ asked McFarland. [The man] said no.

“The search that followed proved that to be a partial truth. [He] had failed to mention the loaded, semi-automatic, .380 Jennings firearm he had within his reach, within the car.”

Cops arrested the man on weapons and motor vehicle charges.

In other incidents, according to Officer Joe Avery:

Cops chased a driver after he fled from an attempted motor vehicle stop at Dixwell and Henry streets Wednesday night shortly after 7 p.m. The driver crashed into another car at Sherman and Whalley. Cops arrested the 19-year-old fleeing driver on ​“various motor vehicle charges.” The other car’s two occupants didn’t ​“suffer any apparent injuries but were transported to the hospital for evaluation.”

Less than an hour later, three masked teens, one of them toting an apparent handgun, ​“approached” a ​“male victim” on Bassett Street. ​“The victim wrestled the handgun, which turned out to be a pellet gun, away from the suspect. Nothing was taken.”