G-Man Grabs 10th Trike

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by Melissa Bailey | Jan 18, 2012 12:44 pm

(10) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Hometown Heroes, Transportation

Melissa Bailey Photo Gerard “G-Man” Gray was on his way to a parks department exercise class Wednesday morning when he spotted an abandoned tricycle on the sidewalk.

“Oh boy!” he thought to himself. “That’s one of the bikes!”

Gray pulled over his dump truck, tossed the stolen tricycle into the vehicle, and solved the final piece of a days-long puzzle to track down $5,000 of stolen city goods. The 10 Miami Sun tricycles, slow-moving low-riders painted in bright red, blue and green, were stolen from a storage shed at Edgewood Park’s Coogan Pavillion on Saturday. The parks department had them custom-made for senior citizens; it was using them for city-led excursions in the park.

The hunt began Saturday, when parks staffers tracked down two missing tricycles after a police dispatcher refused to help. By Monday, five more were recovered.

Martin Torresquintero, the city’s outdoor adventure coordinator who spearheaded the recovery mission, reported Wednesday morning that police recovered two more tricycles overnight. Gray recovered the final trike on his way into work that morning.

Gray, who’s 51, is a 14-year veteran of the city parks department. For the last seven, he’s worked in the tree division.

He left his Westville home Wednesday morning and headed to 180 Park Rd. in Hamden to pick up his dump truck. Then he headed to the Hillhouse High School Field House for a thrice-a-week walking group as part of the city’s wellness program.

He traversed west across Goodrich until it hit Dixwell Avenue. Then he saw it—a blue Miami Sun tricycle like the one he’d heard about on the news.

“I saw the trike right on the sidewalk,” next to a mattress store. It was “abandoned,” “just right there by itself.”

“There was so much publicity that nobody wanted to get caught with that bike,” Gray concluded. He called his boss, Christy Hass, and left her a message.

“I pulled over and put it right on the dump truck,” he said.

With the trike in a safe place, “I proceeded to go to the Field House and got my walk in.”

Around 9 a.m., he met Torresquintero on the New Haven Green and safely delivered the vehicle.

Then he set to work on his next task: Coiling up all those cords from the city’s holiday tree. The city has been deconstructing the tree for the past two and a half weeks.

Reached by phone, Hass commended Gray’s and others’ work in tracking down all 10 tricycles.

“It just shows you that if you have enough publicity, the community comes together” to solve the problem, she said.

Comments

posted by: me on January 18, 2012 1:41pm

The real story is why the Police dispatcher refused to help. Why should we be denied help from the Police Department because a (civilian)dispatcher refuses to help. Imagine if the Parks Department didn’t take it upon themselvers to do the work of recovery!!

posted by: L on January 18, 2012 3:01pm

Nice work, G-Man! We need more recovery stories like this one - to show criminals over & over again that it’s just not worth it in New Haven - that we are all watching you and working together. You’re gonna have to ditch that trike. Now, we just need some more working together…

posted by: FairHavenRes on January 18, 2012 3:53pm

Wonderful to hear; thanks to all the citizens who put time and effort into making this happy conclusion possible!!

posted by: Nan Bartow on January 18, 2012 3:54pm

Many thanks to Melissa for having written and published the story about the stolen bikes, to Greg Dildine, Semi Semi-Dikoko, and Martin Torresquintero, who put out the initial call to find the trikes, and to all the people including G-Man Gray, who searched endlessly to find and recover the trikes. Now all 10 trikes have been rescued and returned to the Parks Department. Hooray for the good people of New Haven!!!

posted by: Bill on January 18, 2012 9:32pm

Way to go G! We need you back at the library BADLY! Outstanding on the ball action!

posted by: Not Brian M. on January 19, 2012 1:06am

“The city has been deconstructing the tree for the past two and a half weeks.”

Brilliant! I laughed out loud.

posted by: Vanessa Poholek Fasanella on January 19, 2012 9:39am

Thank you to G-Man and the other New Haven residents who helped get the trikes back. Shame on those who bought said trikes off the street for a few dollars, and never called the police.

posted by: Pat Wallace on January 19, 2012 3:16pm

The bikes are an example of how responsive our Parks Department is to fresh ideas for making it fun for people to get up and out at whatever age. Now let’s use these bikes, which we had just begun to do. Call Elderly Services, 203-946-7854, to make arrangements for your group of adults, aged 55 and up for an outing in the Park, accompanied by Park Rangers. Elderly Services can assist with group transportation from senior centers and senior housing complexes. Call with questions.
And thanks to everyone who helped turn bad to good. Pat Wallace, Elderly Services Director

posted by: HhE on January 19, 2012 10:21pm

Well done, Sir.

posted by: Elaine Braffman on January 20, 2012 10:47pm

Thanks G-man! From a grateful resident/ taxpayer!

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