Police announced Saturday morning they arrested the man they believe is responsible for the first homicide of 2013.
Cops said they arrested the man who shot and killed a 55-year-old clerk during a robbery at a corner store on Orchard Street on Jan. 22.
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman:
While investigating the murder, police collected surveillance images and witness information that pointed to a 20-year-old man as a suspect. Early Saturday morning, detectives arrested the 20-year-old on a warrant for an unrelated 2012 larceny. SWAT police then executed a search warrant at his home, looking for evidence related to the homicide.
Police found the evidence they were looking for. They arrested the 20-year-old on charges of murder and felony murder. He was being held on a $2 million bond, pending a Tuesday arraignment in court.
“I want to acknowledge the remarkable detectives who pursued this case relentlessly to bring justice to a grieving family,” Chief Dean Esserman said in a release.
The FBI helped New Haven by enhancing stills taken from the store’s surveillance video. Read about that here.
During the NHPD "relentless pursuit" I know of a young man who was forced to go to the station and give up DNA and 2 days later a search warrant was issued and executed to search his home terrorizing the entire family and removing personal belongings from his home. I wonder how many others were treated in this manner. Now that he has been found ompletely innocent I wonder if part of community policing involves returning to that young man's family apologizing for the trauma/treatment they faced.Sometimes "relentless" can be characterized as overzealous, unwarranted and unprofessional.