A man looking for a hooker at a gas station asked a group of men how much a girl with them would cost. When he didn’t like the price, the group knocked him to the ground and slammed a bicycle down on him.
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman:
At 11 p.m. on Friday, Officers Christopher Cacela and Jason Jemiola responded to a report of a robbery at a Mobil station at 284 Whalley Ave. As they pulled up, the clerk shouted to them that kids on bikes had assaulted the man who was lying between the gas pumps.
The 42-year-old victim refused medical attention. He later told cops he was at the gas station to pick up a prostitute. According to Hartman: “He said he saw a group of men with one woman. He said he asked the group how much for the girl. He said they gave him too high a price and he replied he wouldn’t pay that much. He said before he knew it, they were on top of him. He said they used a bicycle as a weapon to attack him — slamming it down on top of him as he lay on the ground.”
Officers Cacela and Jemiola went after the group that attacked the 42-year-old. They headed down Sherman Avenue, only to find the suspects coming toward them, being chased by cops coming from the opposite direction. Cops caught one of the men, a 19-year-old, as he tried to climb a fence to escape. He was identified as the man who beat up the 42-year-old and arrested for four crimes, including assault.
In other police news, according to Hartman:
Cop Attacked: Just before 1 a.m. on Friday, Yale police Officer Leopoldo Otero was in the parking lot at 101 Crown St. assisting with a motor vehicle stop when he “heard a commotion and spotted the beginnings of a brawl,” Hartman said. “Someone was being assaulted and Officer Otero had to intervene quickly. He pulled one male off of another.” A crowd surrounded the cop and a 18-year-old West Haven man jumped on Otero’s back and punched him in the face.
Vincent Colombo, a uniformed off-duty corrections officer, saw Otero being attacked and rushed over and pulled the 18-year-old off of him.
The manager at the nearby Empire Nightclub told cops the man had been kicked out for “poor behavior” and had then tried to fight with customers as they left the club. “He said the security staff was having no luck when telling the young man to call it a night,” Hartman said.
The 18-year-old was arrested for breach of peace and assaulting an officer.
Drug Arrest: At 11:20 p.m. on Sunday, Officers Ryan Macuirzynzki and Martin Feliciano caught a 19-year-old in the woods between Eastern Street and Foxon Boulevard, after a report of gunfire. He had two outstanding warrants and three bags of cocaine.
For block-by-block year-to-date crime info, check the Independent’s crime map.
Why doesn't NHI post the names of adults committing crimes? Every other police blotter I have seen does this. Part of what keeps people from committing offenses again is the public stigma from being caught out and shamed for it.