Hours after two bombs sent the Boston Marathon into a scene of chaos and carnage, police got a report threatening a copycat crime on the New Haven Green.
New York police called New Haven police at 8:34 p.m. Monday to report that someone had called them threatening a bombing on New Haven’s iconic downtown park, according to police spokesman Officer Dave Hartman. Cops traced the call to a psych ward of New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center on 1st Avenue in lower Manhattan.
New Haven cops checked the Green and found “nothing out of the ordinary,” Hartman reported. “The report was a hoax.” Traffic was “not inconvenienced,” he said.
Hartman said city cops are remaining “vigilant” in the wake of Boston bombings, which he called a “grim reminder that tragedy can strike anywhere and at any time.”
Earlier Monday, New Haven and Yale police sent more than a dozen officers and detectives, along with bomb-sniffing dogs, to Ingalls rink. Officials didn’t expect any problems at the 5 p.m. Ingalls Rink event, a celebration of the Yale hockey team’s NCAA championship win. And there weren’t any problems.
Rather, the idea was to keep people calm and be prepared just in case of any ancillary incidents in connection with the apparent terrorist attack in Boston.
Local officials swung into action immediately upon news breaking of the two bombs going off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The bombs killed three people and injured more than 100.
Police Chief Dean Esserman said he first spoke with the FBI and the Boston police to ascertain whether initial information pointed to a broader attack hitting other cities like New Haven. There was no such information.
Then Esserman checked in with Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins to discuss any major events in town that might require extra security. The big event was the 5 p.m. Yale hockey celebration at Ingalls (aka the “Yale Whale”).
Esserman, Higgins, and assistant chiefs and six uniformed officers from both department headed over to the rink. So did some plainclothes detectives, including bomb specialists with the canines in tow.
The event went smoothly, according to Esserman. He said attendees thanked the police for showing up.
That was part of a broader decision to beef up security in town in the wake of the Boston blasts. The city increased security at the port and the train station — again, not because of any information suggesting there’d be problems, but as a precaution, according to Acting Mayor Jorge Perez.
“We’d rather be safe than sorry,” Perez said. As president of the Board of Aldermen, Perez was in charge of the city Monday because Mayor John DeStefano was out of state on vacation.
In addition, the police department held its day shift cops on duty into the evening because of the Boston blasts.
Lt. Jeff Hoffman said between 30 and 40 cops whose shifts would normally end by mid-afternoon had been held over indefinitely. He said the entire morning patrol shift was still on duty as of 5 p.m.
Hoffman said the decision is “due to the events in Boston.”
He said cops are “taking every precaution” and “doing a lot of work behind the scenes.”
“We want to make sure we have ample coverage,” he said.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, meanwhile, issued the following statement:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Massachusetts during this difficult time.
“Connecticut’s law enforcement officials and emergency responders are in close contact with their counterparts both in Massachusetts and with federal homeland security officials as we continue to receive information about the horrific events in Boston. We will offer our full support to our neighboring state and assist in any way we can.”
