Paternity Dispute Preceded Shots At Cops

A 20-year-old Fair Haven Heights resident allegedly drove to Beaver Hills to shoot at the car of a paternity rival.

While fleeing the scene, his associate ​“Nugget” then allegedly turned his gun on a car that was following them. 

Unknown to them, that unmarked vehicle was occupied by two city police officers — who were investigating the initial shooting, and who suddenly found bullets flying their way.

That incident is described in detail in a five-page arrest warrant affidavit written by Officer Gregory Dash on July 12. 

Assistant Police Chief Bertram Ettienne and city Police Chief Karl Jacobson also described that incident Thursday morning during a press conference on the third floor of headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

Ettienne brought the case up in the context of a number of recent gun-related arrests made by the New Haven Police Department (NHPD).

In this particular case, Ettienne said that Officers Matthew Borges and Brendan Way were patrolling Diamond Street in Beaver Hills on June 21 while on a ​“proactive patrol.” 

They heard gunshots fired nearby. Then they identified the vehicle they believed the shots had come from.

Ettienne said ​“they attempted to pursue” that vehicle while in an unmarked car of their own. During that pursuit, Ettienne said, the officers were shot at twice.

Neither officer was hit by those bullets. Neither officer returned fire.

The alleged shooter fled the scene, Ettienne said. But the cops were ultimately able to track down the car and arrest a 20-year-old man who they believed was involved in those shootings — first on Diamond Street, and then at the two officers in the unmarked car.

Online state criminal court records show that that suspect has been charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit first-degree assault, one felony count of carrying a pistol without a permit, one felony count of illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, one misdemeanor count of illegal discharge of a firearm, and one misdemeanor count of second-degree reckless endangerment.

According to state court records, the suspect has pleaded not guilty to all five of those charges. He’s currently being held on a $250,000 bond.

Ettienne and Jacobson said that city police don’t believe that the alleged shooter knew that he was firing at police officers when he fired those two shots at Officers Borges and Way.

“That vehicle fired shots first,” Jacobson said. ​“They were fleeing the area.”

The officers responded to those shots in an unmarked car. And the shooter likely felt ​“like they’re being followed,” and so they fired at the following car. ​“We don’t believe that they knew” there were officers in the car, he said.

Ettienne said that neither of the two officers was injured. He said they’re both now doing OK.

This is ​“an example of how so many New Haven police officers do their job and keep their cool under difficult situations,” Mayor Justin Elicker said. The mayor said he spoke with both officers after the shooting incident, and both told him: ​“I’m just doing my job.”

Affidavit: Shots Fired At Rival's Car, Pursuing Police Officers

After Monday morning’s press conference, the Independent obtained a copy of Dash’s arrest warrant affidavit in this case.

That affidavit provides a wealth of details about what allegedly happened during the June 21 shootings and why the suspect allegedly fired.

The affidavit also includes the side of the arrestee, a 20-year-old Fair Haven Heights resident. Although the resident has pleaded not guilty to all of these charges, he told cops during a June 29 interview that he did fire shots at the empty car of a Diamond Street resident. He then told cops that it was his associate ​“Nugget,” not he, who fired at the cops in the unmarked car.

Here’s what happened, according to Dash’s affidavit:

On June 21, Officers Way and Borges were patrolling the area of Diamond Street in an unmarked undercover police car. The officers heard ​“numerous gunshots coming from their immediate area,” and then they saw a vehicle fleeing the area after those shots were fired.

The officers followed the suspect car as it traveled south on Diamond Street toward Ruby Street. ​“As the Honda turned left onto Ruby Street, headed east bound, the front seat passenger held a handgun out of the window and discharged two rounds toward [Shooting Task Force Officers] Way and Borges,” Dash wrote. 

After the car turned left onto Osborn Avenue, the front seat passenger then ​“fired another gunshot” toward the officers as they followed in their unmarked police vehicle. The officers then lost sight of the suspect vehicle as it continued on Osborne.

After receiving a 911 call about the shootings, patrol officers then responded to Diamond Street, where they found 10 .45 caliber fired cartridge casings and eight .40 caliber fired cartridge casings. A white Honda Accord that was parked in front of a Diamond Street house had been struck twice by gunfire.

“It was later determined the Honda Accord struck by gunfire belonged to the intended target’s mother.” 

Officers then found two .40 caliber fired cartridge casings located in the area of Diamond and Ruby Streets, and then another .40 caliber fired cartridge casing in the area of Osborne and Pelham Streets.

Sgt. Chris Cameron then interviewed the owner of the bullet-struck car as well as her son, a 19-year-old man.

The owner of the car believed her son was the target of the initial shots fired in front of their residence. The 19-year-old told Sgt. Cameron that ​“he was involved in an ongoing dispute with a female … regarding custody of her child. The dispute stemmed from a disagreement as to who is the biological father” of the woman’s baby. The woman claimed another individual was the biological father, while the 19-year-old believed he was the father.

Cameron then reviewed text message and Facebook message disputes between the 19-year-old and the 20-year-old man who was ultimately arrested. 

City police officers were able to find out where in Fair Haven Heights that the arrestee lived. At his home, officers found and seized two high-capacity magazines. They also found one .40 caliber live round in the arrestee’s car.

On June 29, officers arrested the 20-year-old man on Whalley Avenue ​“without incident.” He was transported to police headquarters at 1 Union Ave., where officers then interviewed him.

The arrestee told the officers during that interview that, on June 21, the 19-year-old from Diamond Street had been texting and arguing with the woman who he believed had borne his child. The 19-year-old allegedly told that woman that he hoped her child would die while receiving care in the neo natal intensive care unit at the hospital.

That woman then allegedly told the arrestee about those text messages.

So the arrestee then arranged to meet with a man he knew as ​“Nugget” who had access to firearms. The arrestee left his home and picked up ​“Nugget” in a Honda Accord. He said he and Nugget then drove to Diamond Street.

As they got closer to the 19-year-old’s family’s house, the arrestee said, Nugget ​“removed two black handguns from his bag. ​‘Nugget’ handed a .45 caliber handgun to the arrestee. The arrestee parked his vehicle in front of [the Diamond Street house] and both [the arrestee] and Nugget exited the car.

“Both [the arrestee] and ​‘Nugget’ fired gunshots toward the residence. [The arrestee] stated he fired the handgun at a parked vehicle which he believed belonged to the family” of the 19-year-old rival. “[The arrestee] got back into the driver’s seat, and ​‘Nugget’ the front passenger seat. As [the arrestee] drove away, they noticed a vehicle following them. [The arrestee] and ​‘Nugget’ believed Juvenile #1 and his friends were following them. [The arrestee] stated ​‘Nugget’ then fired the .40 caliber handgun toward the vehicle that was following them. [The arrestee] added at one point ​‘Nugget’s’ handgun ​‘jammed,’ at which point he had to eject a round from the chamber, which was the one [Shooting Task Force] members located when serving the search warrant on his Honda Accord.”

The arrestee said he then dropped Nugget off at his Fair Haven home after the shooting.

Dash wrote that the arrestee did not possess a state pistol permit, nor did he have any firearms registered in his name. He was not listed as a convicted felon and did not have any misdemeanor handgun disqualifications.

He concluded the affidavit by writing that he believed police had probable cause to arrest the 20-year-old man on three felony and two misdemeanor charges.