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by Staff | Oct 23, 2012 4:57 pm

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

Posted to: Legal Writes

A dispute about taxes and towing devolved into fisticuffs, with a pregnant woman in the thick of it.

Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman:

At 9 p.m. on Monday, Officer Sean Maher responded to Crown Auto on York Street on a report of an assault. “He arrived to find three women and one man locked in the fenced-in tow yard,” Hartman reported. “The women were yelling at one another.”

The man told Maher that he’d locked the gate to prevent two women—a mother and a daughter—from escaping after assaulting a clerk. The 51-year-old mother told Maher that she’d brought her 24-year-old daughter to the tow company to retrieve her car, which had been towed for unpaid taxes. The mother told Maher that the tax bill had been paid a month earlier to a tow truck driver, who had given her a receipt written on a business card. She claimed the tow company had then taken the “business card receipt” but refused to give her car back. She claimed she was assaulted by the towing company clerk because she blocked the gate with her foot.

The Crown receptionist, who is eight months pregnant, told a different story. She told Maher that she’d listened to the mother’s claim that the taxes had been paid. “She said she explained payments aren’t accepted other than at the at the city’s tax office or at Crown Towing’s office. She said she told the women to return in the morning to clear up the matter with her boss,” Hartman said.

Then, according to the clerk, the daughter got in her car and started driving toward her. “She said she stood her ground as the car bucked forward.” The daughter got out and continued arguing. The clerk said she asked the mother and daughter to leave several times. They blocked the gate.

The receptionist was then pushed from behind by the daughter, she told Maher. She tried to close the gate “but both of the women were now punching her in the face, scratching her and pulling her hair.”

“Officer Maher took a look at surveillance tapes that corroborated the receptionist’s account of what happened. He arrested the mother and daughter on charges of assault and trespassing. The car remained in custody as well.

“The ‘business card receipt’ was not, in fact, lost. It was at the bottom of a trash can—torn into pieces. It was pieced together and entered as evidence.”

In other police news according to Hartman:

“Nothing. @#&%!”: At about 11 p.m. on Monday, Officers Steven Cunningham, Jason Rentkowicz, and Steven Formica responded to a domestic dispute on Kossuth Street, where a man told them his drunk brother had punched him.

Officers confronted the brother, who seemed intoxicated.

“‘What happened?’ asked Officer Cunningham,” Hartman said. “‘Nothing,’ was the reply, followed by a string of unintelligible words and profane outbursts.”

The officers produced a pair of handcuffs. The man began to fight the cops, who tried to control him. Officer Cunningham took a punch to the face.

The man was arrested and charged with breach of peace, interfering, and assaulting an officer.

Shooting Suspect Arrested: Police Tuesday charged a suspect with shooting a man on Hamilton Street on Oct. 14.

On that day, at 4:58 p.m., police responded to a scene near the Farnam Court housing project. Witnesses told cops the victim had been driving toward Grand Avenue behind a man on a “motorized bicycle.” The men, who knew each other, confronted each other near a playground and one shot the other, twice.

The victim was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he remains in the intensive care unit.

At noon on Tuesday, New Haven police, detectives, and members of the U.S. Marshal’s fugitive task force arrested the alleged shooter, a man who turned 29 between the shooting and his arrest.

Investigators had learned that the suspect was hiding out on the third floor of a building on Gilbert Avenue. They charged the man with assault, criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a pistol without a permit, and risk of injury to a minor.

Detective Wayne Bullock took the lead on the case, working with Fair Haven cops and other detectives.

For block-by-block year-to-date crime info, check the Independent’s Crime Log.

Comments

posted by: PH on October 23, 2012 5:49pm

I’m curious to know more about this tow truck company that allegedly collects taxes. And, sadly, Farnam Courts can’t get ripped down fast enough. The place is a disaster.

posted by: Edward_H on October 23, 2012 10:43pm

Crown’s relationship with the city needs to be looked at.
Incident #1 A few years ago one of their driver cut me off in a dangerous manner to grab an illegally parked car. I then drove to their lot to complain to management about the recklessness of the driver. When my wife and I were offended with their non caring attitude. When we told the receptionist the driver could have caused an accident she began screaming to get off the property and threatened us with arrest.

Incident # 2 A former tenant left what we thought at the time was possibly a “boot” that might have belonged to Crown or the City in a rented storage unit. When my wife called to try to find out if the boot belonged to Crown or the City the receptionist immediately threatened my wife with arrest if she did not return the boot. Which was what she was trying to do in the first place by calling these people.

posted by: Long Time NH Resident on October 24, 2012 11:09am

The real story here is how that “receipt” on the back of a business card got torn up and thrown away.
Sounds like Crown is taking money from unsuspecting people who are not familiar with the payment process for back taxes. Crown is one of the City contractors. They need to be investigated for this “receipt” issue and possible suspended or terminated.
The City has terminated contracts for lesser offenses then stealing money from citizens and the City as it was “our” tax money the driver pocketed.
I agree with Edward H on their aggressive driving habits, disobedience of most traffic laws and being just plain rude and obnoxious as they have been for many years.

posted by: Spring Heeled Jim on October 24, 2012 6:09pm

Wow, I am extremely disappointed by the comments here. The “real story” is that two people assaulted a woman who was 8 months pregnant over a car. A CAR. This is inexcusable behavior and completely unwarranted under any circumstances, regardless of how poor you think a business’ customer service is. For shame.

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