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A loitering complaint led to a felon’s arrest — and a trip onto a roof for one officer.
The incident occurred on Dixwell Avenue at 7:20 p.m. Sunday.
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman.
Three cops—Lesley Billingslea, Cherelle Carr and Robert Hayden (pictured)—“headed to the Dixwell Market to address an ongoing loitering issue. They arrived and found loiterers.”
One of the loiterers “took off running”—with the cops running behind him. Hayden saw the man “pull a gun from his waistband and toss it on top of a roof at 267 Dixwell.”
The fleeing man ignored orders to stop. “I’ve got a warrant!” he yelled.
It turned out he was telling the truth. The cops caught him. They arrested him on an outstanding warrant as well as new weapons, interfering, and loitering charges.
Meanwhile, “Officer Hayden climbed up to the roof and recovered a loaded EIG .22 caliber revolver.”
Getting off the roof proved trickier. The fire department showed up on scene and helped him down.
Chalk Up Another Gun Grab: Fair Haven cops Louis DeCrescenzo and Ryan Macuirzynski ended up confiscating their fourth illegal gun within a month—thanks to a suspicion about a parked car.
They saw the car, a light brown Buick Lacrosse with New York plates, sticking into the road while parked on Clay Street around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
They pulled up “and hit the strobes.” The driver reacted by “tossing a jean jacket into the back seat,” according to Hartman. A passenger saw the cops and split.
The driver tried to start the car; he failed. The cops approached him. It turned out he was behind the wheel of a car stolen from a 62-year-old Hamden woman. His jacket in the back seat was wrapped around a loaded Remington UMC handgun. The cops charged him with nine crimes (including driving without a license). Police also believe the car was “involved in a recent commercial robbery.
“These are great community police officers,” stated their boss, top Fair Haven cop Sgt. Herb Johnson.
Radio Shacked: New Haven joined cops from seven other communities as well as the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives in cracking an alleged armed-robbery crew. They Monday afternoon announced the arrests of three men—two from Bridgeport, one from New Haven—for allegedly carrying out robberies at seven area Radio Schak outlets, as well as at an AT&T outlet and a Verizon outlet. They’re also charged with two other attempted robberies. A fourth member of the alleged crew remains at large.
Yay NHPD; Community Policing pays off. Time and again the evidence is that people who commit petty crimes also commit felonies. Let's go after more people who park cars on the sidewalks and see if we can get more guns off the street.