Two pit bulls got away. So did a driver who waved a gun at a traffic & parking employee. And a snow shoveler who swiped some DVDs and some cigs.
But police did track down two men who left the scene of a car collision. And got two different stories.
Those highlights emerge in the latest weekly roundup of police incidents written by top Westville/West Hills/West Rock/Beverly Hills/Amity cop Lt. Rose Dell.
Her report follows:
FROM 2/9/19 to 2/16/19 POLICE RESPONDED TO 169 CALLS FOR SERVICE IN THE WESTVILLE/WEST HILLS SECTION OF NEW HAVEN. THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF NOTABLE INCIDENTS:
On Sunday morning, a Ford Fiesta and a Chevy van were in an accident at the intersection of Edgewood Avenue and Central Avenue. Initially both operators stayed on scene. The operator of the Ford said that two males exited the van and approached her, one tall and skinny with bad teeth and one older and shorter. After a few minutes passed they both got back into the van and took off. She was able to provide Officer Patrick Bengston with a photo of the license plate.
Officer Bengston located the owner of the van who said that her son was driving the vehicle. The son said that he stopped and tried to provide the other driver with his information, but she refused to speak with him. The driver of the van was issued a summons for leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license.
Sunday afternoon Officer Matthew Vernik was dispatched to Harper Avenue for a call concerning strange sounds coming from the area of West Rock Park. A resident reported that at around 9 am he saw a white Pitbull and a white/orange Pitbull head into the forest near the end of Harper Avenue. He last saw them dashing towards the top of West Rock Park and was now concerned that the dogs could be tied up, stuck somewhere or lost within the woods. Officer Vernik checked the area but located no animals in distress. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was notified of the report.
On Monday, a Traffic and Parking employee was traveling eastbound on Fountain Street near Emerson Street. He executed a U‑turn in front of a Honda that was traveling at a decent clip in the opposite direction. The two vehicles met up again while stopped at the red light on Fountain Street and Dayton Street. The city employee looked over and saw the operator of the Honda yelling and waving a small black handgun. The city employee provided the license plate information to the police. Officers located the vehicle and are working on determining the identity of the driver.
After this week’s snowstorm, a resident of Philip Street contacted the police department to file a theft complaint. He reported that an unknown black male shoveled his driveway and then demanded payment in the form of two movies and some money. Even though the resident did not know this male or hire him to clear the snow, he invited him into his house and gave him two DVDs and ten dollars. After the subject left, the resident discovered that an unopened pack of Marlboro 100s was missing from his kitchen counter.
On Valentine’s Day, an employee of the Church of Scientology at 980 Whalley Avenue found several desks had been rummaged through and a yellow electric drill was missing. Upon further inspection, the employee found the keys to the Ford van were missing from the desk, and the vehicle was no longer parked in the rear lot. The van was used as a mobile church and contained $10,000 worth of equipment including speakers, amplifiers, microphones, and projector screens.
On Friday at 1:00 am, Officer Michael Rubino was on patrol in the area of Forest Road and Chapel Street when he spotted a stolen red Nissan Altima. He stopped the vehicle and made contact with the driver who said he had no identification but provided a name of “Cliffton Powell.” A check of our in-house computer system showed that this name was a frequently used alias of [a 50-year-old New Haven men who] had seven outstanding warrants out of New Haven (3), Derby, Waterbury, Milford and Orange. He was arrested for the stolen car, criminal impersonation and served with the warrants.
