Police have charged a Bridgeport man who allegedly fired a gun into the air to break up a fight amid post-club “chaos” downtown.
The incident took place at 2 a.m. Saturday, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman.
Here’s what happened, according to Hartman:
Yale and New Haven cops got a report of gunfire in front of the Starbucks at 900 Chapel St. at 2:09 a.m. When they arrived, “they were confronted by a chaotic scene and it took several minutes for them to disperse the hundreds of club goers who’d clogged traffic and sidewalks.”
No one at the scene appeared to be hit by a bullet. The commotion appeared to stem from two women who got into a fist-fight, drawing a crowd. Witnesses told Officer Michael Pepe that a few people tried breaking up the fight before a man fired several shots “in the air.”
Witnesses pointed to a 22-year-old Bridgeport man as the shooter. Cops couldn’t find a gun on him. They charged him with “four gun crimes and first-degree reckless endangerment.”
Two hours later, Officer Pete McCoy drove to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport and spoke to a woman who claimed she was assaulted during the fight. She was “unable to describe her assailant.”
Hummer ID’d In Robbery
Thanks to an “unusual” getaway car, police have identified a suspect who they believe committed an armed robbery at 11:15 p.m. Friday on downtown’s Park Street. Officers Ann Mays and John Barbetti interviewed a man who said he had been robbed at gunpoint after calling an acquaintance to “bring over some cigarettes.” When the man pulled up in the Hummer, he pointed a gun at the victim’s head and demanded money. The victim was giving up his money when a third person in the car tried to strangle him with the cord from a Playstation. The victim broke free and the three men fled in the vehicle.
Lt. Ray Hassett informed the two cops that police at the University of New Haven suspected that the unusual car, which had Florida plates, belongs to one of their students of the same name that the victim gave.
The suspect is also believed to have committed another robbery around the same time at 90 Park St.; however the alleged victim who called police could not be found.
For block-by-block year-to-date crime info, and daily crime maps, check the Independent’s crime log.
