The police department’s new gunshot-detection system led cops to a woman who was still holding a recently fired handgun, police said.
It was the first reported arrest to be made as a direct result of the city’s new ShotSpotter system. The network of sensors was installed in September in New Haven’s “crime corridor.”
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avery:
ShotSpotter reported multiple shots fired on Saturday at 7:52 a.m. in the Munson Street, County Street, Orchard Street area. Officers Richard Burgos, Sam Streater, and David Murgo responded to the area and found a witness on County Street who said that a woman had been firing a gun nearby and then run onto Munson Street.
Officers found the woman in front of 320 Munson St. holding a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol in her hand. The three officers ordered her to drop the weapon. She was arrested and found to be in possession of — and high on — a large quantity of “illy,” marijuana dipped in PCP.
The ShotSpotter system is “proving to be very accurate,” said Avery. The technology is faster and more precise than most 911 calls, he said.
In other weekend police news, according to Avery:
At 7 p.m. on Friday, a man came into the Hospital of St. Raphael emergency room with gunshot wound to his right shoulder. He said that he had been shot on East Ramsdell Street.
On Saturday at 11:20 a.m., a man walked into the Yale-New Haven Hospital emergency room with a gunshot wound to his right inner thigh and groin. Police investigating the incident found a bullet hole in the passenger seat of the vehicle the man was in, indicating that it may have been a self-inflicted wound. The man was arrested for carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, unlawful discharge of a firearm, and reckless endangerment.
A man entered the Subway restaurant at 193 Whalley Avenue around 1:45 on Sunday afternoon. He assaulted the manager and robbed the restaurant using a “simulated handgun.” Then he ran around the corner, where a Yale police officer saw him jump into a vehicle on Dickerman Street. The officer tried to stop the vehicle, but it sped off. Yale police managed to stop the car behind Dixwell Plaza, where the robber fled on foot while the driver was arrested.
At 6:52 p.m. on Sunday, officers approaching a suspicious person in a car at 145 Newhall St. saw a 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun on the floor of the vehicle. Police also found drugs in the car. Four arrests were made.
ShotSpotter reported several shots fired near 220 County St. at 11 p.m. on Saturday. Officers responding to the scene found a man who said he had been driving on County Street when his car started having engine trouble. He pulled over and was approached by four males dressed in black, one of whom demanded all his money. The man tried to drive off and was shot at by the would-be muggers. His car was hit several times by bullets. The suspects fled.
A Yale grad student was robbed on Sunday, according to Avery and Yale Police Chief James Perrotti. The student was mugged on Avon and Orange Streets at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. He was stopped by three males who asked him for directions and then if they could borrow his cellphone. When the man handed it over, they punched him in the head and knocked him to the ground, where they continued to assault him as they went through his pockets. The muggers then got in a waiting silver SUV and took off.
Bars Pass The Test
Staffers from the state Liquor Control Commission teamed up with New Haven police on Friday night to enforce laws against serving alcohol to minors. The operation targeted six city bars, all of which were found to be in compliance, said Lt. Rebecca Sweeney, who oversaw the evening.
Tested were Cafe 9, Christy’s, Tee Off, J.P. Dempsey’s, Diesel, and Christopher Martin’s. Half of the six bars were targeted because of complaints, half were random, Sweeney said. Servers at all the bars asked for ID when approached by customers planted by the Liquor Control Commission.
“Everybody did well,” Sweeney said. “It was a good night.”
For block-by-block year-to-date crime info, and daily crime maps, check the Independent’s crime log.
