Hold The Booze

Police flooded a block in Beaver Hills Tuesday afternoon, looking for two men who bailed out of a car on Ellsworth Avenue.

The car matched the description of a vehicle sought in connection with gunshots fired in Newhallville earlier on Tuesday, said Sgt. Max Joyner, Beaver Hills top cop.

Police spotted the car Tuesday afternoon before 3 p.m. in Newhallville and followed it to Ellsworth Avenue, where two men bailed out and started running, Joyner said. Cops formed a perimeter and sent in a K‑9 unit, but the dog wasn’t able to pick up the scent, Joyner said. Police released the perimeter at around 3:30 p.m.

Joyner said police didn’t see a gun and do not have a description of the suspects.

2 Bar Licenses Suspended

Patrons of the Keys To The City will have to settle for club soda when they visit the piano bar next Thursday.

The bar won’t be serving any liquor on Thursday, March 24, due to a one-day suspension of its liquor license. State liquor control found the club served alcohol to a minor in the barroom. The bar has also paid a $7,500 fine.

Keys To The City is one of two New Haven bars that will have their liquor licenses suspended this month, liquor control announced on Tuesday. Gotham Citi Cafe, on Crown Street, will have its license suspended on March 22 and 23. The club has paid a fine of $1,500.

John Suchy, head of state liquor control, said both suspensions stem from evening inspections on Sept. 30, 2010. Liquor control agents were following up on complaints of underage drinking that had been submitted previously, he said.

At Keys To The City, police and liquor control agents found five minors in the barroom: three 20-year-olds, an 18-year-old, and a 19-year-old. They were drinking a vodka, two rum and cokes and two Long Island iced teas, Suchy said. In Gotham Citi, a 19-year-old admitted to being served a Jack Daniels and Coke by a bartender, Suchy said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Keys To The City owner Giuliana Maravalle said she’s taken a number of steps to ensure her bar’s violation is a one-time affair.

“What happened was we had a Thursday night college night,” Maravelle said. The event, held back in September, was 21 and over, but one of the people working the door let in some friends who were under age, she said.

That staffer was fired in October, as soon as the transgression was discovered, Maravelle said.

“We are very strict with the 21 and under rule,” she said. ​“We have no tolerance for it whatsoever.”

Maravelle said she’s also had cameras installed at the entrance and put a trusted extra staffer at the entrance. She said Keys To The City has also put a stop to college nights.

“It’s just not the crowd we want,” she said.

“East Coast Rapist” Indicted In Virginia

A grand jury in Virginia has indicted the alleged East Coast Rapist, a New Haven man accused of 17 rapes and sexual assaults since 1997.

That’s according to an AP news story released Tuesday morning.

The man, who was arrested 10 days ago in Westville, could face life in prison if convicted of any of the three charges he faces in Virginia. He also faces charges in New Haven, stemming from a 2007 sexual assault of a woman in her home in New Haven.

Man Shot In Newhallville

Police are investigating a Monday night shooting in Newhallville and a Tuesday morning robbery in Edgewood.

Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avery:

At 10:44 p.m. on Monday, the ShotSpotter system indicated shots were fired at Compton and Canal Streets in Newhallville. A caller told police that two groups were shooting at each other. Police later found an 18-year-old shooting victim at 101 Winchester Ave. He was shot in the leg.

A woman was assaulted and robbed at 323 Winthrop Ave. at 2:16 a.m. She told police two men attacked her and tried to rob her. She was struck on the cheek with ​“some sharp type of object.” Police arrested on suspect, a 25-year-old.

New Havener Pleads Guilty to Counterfeiting

The Connecticut U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that 39-year-old Anashe Ufukama, of Irving Street, pleaded guilty Monday to federal counterfeiting and cocaine distribution charges.

According to court documents and statements, Ufukama received over $35,000 in counterfeit U.S. dollars from counterfeiters in Nigeria. He sold a portion of the fake cash and wired proceeds to his sources in Nigeria.

On Sept. 10, 2010, Ufukama distributed about 22 grams of cocaine to some one working with law enforcement.

Ufukama was arrested Sept. 20, 2010. He faces maximum terms of 20 years in prison for each of the two charges.

Crime Map

Click here for a list of major crimes for March 14. Click on the image below to see those incidents placed on a citywide map.

For block-by-block year-to-date crime information, plus daily crime maps, check out the Independent’s Crime Log.