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Sgt. Harkins Nabs Alleged MTA Thief
by Thomas MacMillan | Oct 6, 2010 10:52 pm
(11) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Legal Writes
Sgt. Doug Harkins was on patrol when he spotted a man walking with a familiar gait—one that he’d seen just hours before in video footage from a purse snatching.
Harkins (pictured) followed the man and made an arrest Monday behind an abandoned church on Union Avenue. Police say that arrest resulted in a confession to a rip-and-run mugging at the State Street train station on Saturday.
Here’s what happened, according to Harkins and police spokesman Joe Avery:
At 2 p.m. on Saturday, a 33-year-old woman was waiting alone for a Metro North train at the State Street train station near Chapel Street. A man with a handgun accosted her and grabbed her purse. After a struggle in which he dragged her, the man ran off with her pocketbook.
Metropolitan Transportation Administration (MTA) police investigated the incident and shared surveillance footage of the incident with New Haven police. Sgt. Doug Harkins, of the Street Interdiction Unit, watched the video on Monday.
Later that day, at around 6:30 p.m., Harkins was on patrol in an unmarked car on Church Street South near Columbus Avenue when he spotted a man that looked familiar.
“I recognized him almost immediately,” Harkins said. “What really gave it away was his gait.” He had the same slightly bobbing way of walking as the man in the video. He also had the same close-cropped hair.
“This is the guy!” Harkins recalled thinking.
He pulled over and called for other units, but everyone was busy. He stayed on the guy by himself, watching him head down and back Station Court into the housing project, then head south on Church Street. Near the corner on Union Avenue, the guy disappeared. He seemed to have jumped a wall behind the abandoned Seventh Day Adventist church at the corner.
Harkins, who was a supervisor in the Hill neighborhood before joining the Street Interdiction Unit, looped around to Carlisle Street and Liberty Street to catch the guy popping out on the other side of the block. But he never showed.
Harkins drove back to the church, parked in the lot, and headed cautiously around back. With his gun drawn, he turned a corner and found the man standing with his back to a boarded over sliding door. It was the guy from the video. He ordered him to the ground and took him into custody.
The 34-year-old man confessed to MTA detectives and was charged with robbery, larceny, and carrying a fake gun. The MTA found the fake gun on the tracks, along with the woman’s purse.
In other purse-snatching news, according to Yale Assistant Police Chief Ronnell Higgins:
On Tuesday at 2:20 p.m., a female Yale undergrad was near Prospect Street and Prospect Place when a man approached her and demanded her shoulder bag. The student refused and ran away without injury.
Crime Map
Click here for a list of major crimes for Oct. 5. Click on the image below to see those incidents placed on a citywide map.
For block-by-block year-to-date crime information, plus daily crime maps, check out the Independent’s Crime Log.
Post a Comment
Comments
posted by: HamdenNewHaven on October 6, 2010 6:34pm
It bothers me that in both stories, the women resisted giving up their purses. Granted, the guy in the first incident had a fake gun and the person in the second incident didn’t pursue the victim, but that’s taking a big chance.
Personally, this has never happened to me and I sure would hate giving up my purse, but I also don’t want to be dragged across the ground, or have something worse happen.
posted by: Another Ex on October 6, 2010 8:49pm
Harkins is top notch. He’s one of the best NHPD has to offer. Nice grab boss
posted by: D9DM on October 6, 2010 11:14pm
Sgt.Harkin’s is as good a police officer and supervisor as this Department has ever had..He has been doing this type of good work for years..Great job Doug! its nothing I havent seen before.
posted by: xtian on October 7, 2010 5:54am
Good work Sargent. Good to know the police ‘have our backs’. ....
posted by: NEW_HAVEN_RESIDENT on October 7, 2010 7:15am
GREAT JOB HARKINS, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! I KNOWN HARKINS SINCE MY TEENS AGE, HE’S A GREAT COP.
posted by: mt9 on October 7, 2010 9:29am
Having the pleasure of knowing Sgt. Harkins for thirty plus years this doesn’t surprise me. Doug is well respected supervisor and the success of the new SIU unit is direct reflection of him and his work ethic. Doug nice job:)
posted by: areaPD on October 7, 2010 10:06am
Sgt. Harkins has always been a hardworking professional. It would be in everybody’s best interest if he continues up the ladder in the department. A well-respected police professional like Sgt. Harkins, seem hard to come by these days. This arrest does not surprise me, another day for him. Keep up the good work Doug.
