Two Robbed Near ​“Illegal After-Hours” Spot

Things did not go well for two Hamden men leaving an illegal ​“after hours” spot in New Haven early Sunday morning.

Here’s what Officer David Hartman said went down:

At 4:26 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a reported shooting at 578 George St. Once there, they learned there were two victims and that each were taken to the St. Raphael’s campus of Yale-New Haven Hospital by private car.

At the hospital, detectives spoke with the two victims, both from Hamden, who had suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The men told detectives they’d left the after-hours club and were heading to the car, which belonged to one of the men, when a group of men ran up to them. They demanded that the two men hand over their valuables and cash. The victims said they started fighting with the crooks and someone pulled a gun. One victim was shot in the leg. The other man had a bullet graze his leg.

The perpetrators stole the men’s wallets, phones and keys before making their get-away in a white Volvo belonging to one of the victims. About an hour later, officers from the Hamden Police Department recovered the Volvo. It was unoccupied. The two men face several charges including first degree assault, robbery and reckless endangerment.

While those two men got away, two young car thieves did not last Friday.

At about 5 p.m. on that day, a car was reported stolen with the keys from Main Street, according to Hartman. An hour later, Officers Marco Correa and Bleck Joseph spotted the car parked on Star Street near Winchester Avenue.

The officers drove past it and positioned their cruiser to block it in. They got out and approached the occupied vehicle. Looking to flee the scene, the juvenile behind the wheel drove toward Joseph, nearly striking him. The car thief struck the police car as they fled.

The officers went searching for the car but couldn’t find it. Sometime later, several callers to 911 reported there was a car that had crashed into a wall and traffic sign at Cold Spring and Canner streets. It was the car the officers had been looking for, according to Hartman.

Officers searched the area and found two young men walking on Mitchell Drive near Anderson. Witnesses identified them as having fled from the crashed car. The two juveniles, who are both 17, were charged with criminal attempt to commit assault on a police officer, auto theft and motor vehicle offenses.