Police are looking for two men accused in a violent robbery outside Goodfellas Restaurant on State Street that left a 60-year-old woman with a head injury.
According to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman:
A 61-year-old woman was injured during a violent purse-snatching outside the restaurant at the corner of State Street and Trumbull Street last Saturday at 8:30 p.m. She told police that two men in their mid-20s approached her on foot and confronted. One man grabbed her purse. When she put up a fight, they knocked her down, leaving her with a slashed arm and a head injury. The suspects fled with a gold Coach bag containing the victim’s driver’s license and a Goodfellas gift certificate.
Police released the above photo of one of the suspects, snapped by a surveillance camera on State Street. Anyone with any information on the crime is urged to call the New Haven Police Department Robbery Unit at 203 – 946-6304 or the general number, 203 – 946-6316.
3 Charged With Mugging Westville Man
In other news, cops charged three men in connection to the robbery of a man in Edgewood on Wednesday.
According to Hartman: “At 8:13 PM, Officer Salvatore Ricci was sent to a Chapel Street address regarding a robbery that had occurred moments earlier in the area of Hotchkiss Street & Edgewood Avenue.
“There, he met with the victim [name withheld] who told him of the robbery. He said he’d been confronted by a masked man who was holding a cell phone in one hand. The man asked him the time and then if he could borrow a phone. [The victim] gave the man the time and questioned why he’d need to borrow someone’s phone, as he clearly had one of his own.
“[The victim] walked away, but was grabbed by the masked man. He declared he had no money on him and pulled away. He was confronted a third time by the same man. This time the masked man’s two masked accomplices were at his side. One had his hand concealed in his sweatshirt pocket and by his gestures, simulated his possession of a gun. The victim said one of them punched him in the face before he was wrestled to the ground. He was repeatedly punched and kicked. The three assailants ripped his wallet from his pocket and took off running.
“Officer Ricci gave the detailed description of the three perpetrators to the dispatcher, who in turn broadcast it to Officers in the area. The broadcast paid off, when moments later, Officer Gregory Pellicone spotted three suspects in the area of Winthrop and Edgewood Avenues. With Officer Caminer Lavache’s help, the three were detained.” The three men “were each in possession of the types of face masks described by the victim.”
The victim positively ID’d the three men as the ones who had robbed and beaten him. Police searched one of the suspects’ backpack and found a cell phone, bread, candy and a hammer. The victim was taken to the hospital. The suspects “were taken to jail — each charged with robbery in the first degree, assault in the secont degree, criminal mischief in the second degree and conspiracy to commit all three.”
Public Indecency
Also Wednesday, cops charged an Orchard Street man with indecent behavior. The man knocked on a neighbor’s door at 3:33 p.m. and “exposed his genitals and proceeded to gratify himself.
“The victim told him to go away or she’d tell his girlfriend. He left, but returned ten minutes later. She called the Police. The Officers ended up pursuing [the suspect] as he fled the building on foot, but lost sight of him. Minutes later, with a stroke of good luck, Officer Scott Shumway caught [the suspect] on Willis Street. He was identified and charged with public indecency, disorderly conduct and interfering with Police.”
DUI Checkpoint
The police department plans a sobriety checkpoint beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1 at Temple and Elm streets. Enforcement will continue until 3 a.m. Saturday.
For block-by-block year-to-date crime info, check the Independent’s crime map.
'Minutes later, with a stroke of good luck'...
what you did there? i saw it.