Alleged Bike Thief Attacks Cop

Bike theft is a big and persistent problem here in New Haven.
It would be nice to see the police make this more of a priority and start tying a goat, I mean a bike, to a post to attract the predators.
High end bikes can cost $700 to thousands and I'm not aware of any of the thieves being caught - ever.
This rare catch at Yale needs to be duplicated all over town.

I have never in my life found the need to comment on ANY news story. I was walking right across the street when I saw this happen this afternoon. I watched the guy looking at the bike and playing around with a bike chain. He did not look scary at all. Then I saw one of the undercover cops run out yelling at the guy. I was directly across the street and I was kind of stunned at what I was watching. I froze and watched as the alleged thief kept saying " sorry, etc" I did NOT see the alleged thief strike the cop. What I DID see was one cop hammering the alleged thief with his walkie talkie over and over again almost immediately when he got to him. He was slamming it in the guys head several times and this guy was not attacking them from what I was able to see right in front of me. Then a female copy ran up and tacked the guy to the ground like a football player. 3 cop cars showed up within a minute and were right down the street apparently. Was this a setup with a planted bike to see if someone would grab it? Shame on you NHPD. I wish I just had the sense to videotape it! Not saying I want the guy over for dinner but in my mind I witnessed unnecessary force to someone who was not posing a threat.

passerby, YPD, not NHPD.

@ Passerby from what the story says it was Yale Police and the NHPD.

[Editor: It was Yale police.]

passerby, why is a sting with a bait bike shame-worthy? I urge you to file a statement with the appropriate person(s) regarding what you saw; if the police were in fact using excessive force, then a light needs to be shined on that. But setting out a honeypot and watching for a bike thief is something I would 1000% applaud.

Wow, those are two VERY different accounts of the incident -- the one "according to Yale Assistant Chief Steve Woznyk," and the one from Passerby.

not really shocked about the excessive force..cops LOVE to do this regardless is the assailant poses any threat..thanks PASSERBY for your account i 100% believe yours ANY cop, cheif ect. they have to cover themselves.And i've seen shows where cops use "bait"bike and cars to arrest someone..also i'm not shocked someone was arrested in the UNIVERSITY area because it's the UNIVERSITY gotta keep crime down around there to many wealthy kids at that college!

@Gretchen- Yes, just as there were a number of conflicting stories about the teenage party at Kudeta. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

LadyERT,
regarding Kudeta's i know a two parents personal (both chaperoning) that was there and she said something TOTALLY different..it never got reported that NHPD pepper sprayed the kids in the crowd..i also want to add that kudeta's ALWAYS catered to the "hip-hop and r&b" crowd since its been open myself has been to past events there.

This is another example of how video recording would provide a more neutral story. It's time for high definition cameras in patrol cars and on some officers. Didn't the NHPD purchase a group of tazers without the video recording option? Bad move given the number of videos that show their often reasonable (but not always) use.

My money is on sting operation. That block consists entirely of two Yale colleges (Silliman and Timothy Dwight). Not only would Yale students lock their bikes inside their courtyard, even if they were to lock their bike on the street, they'd use a bike lock, not five feet of heavy-duty chain. No one else would have any reason to lock their bike on that section of Temple at all.

personally i don't care but they should treatment ALL thefts the same

Passerby is obviously making things up or mistaken. The photos in the article prove this. Passerby claims the man was just "looking at the bike and playing around with the chain". In both pictures the bike is clearly removed from the pole with the chain wrapped around the frame. I guess the police officer who received treatment for facial injuries punched himself in the face or just had one of the other officers do it.

Elmcityresident, I've gone out to downtown many times and besides pulse and lazy lizard, i saw plenty of fights outside Kudeta, but the crowd is usually a bit older. A few weeks ago, two young men who went to Kudeta's were beat unconsciously down the street, both were lying on the ground motionless. In the past year I've seen at least 7 big fights outside Kudeta as I'm walking to my car, and when the cops arrive the club patrons fight the NHPD too.

Well said breakingbad23.

Thank you for making those comments breakingbad23 and trustme...well said.