Paul Bass Photos
SWAT team members at the scene Wednesday afternoon.
A police standoff ended peacefully in Newhallville Wednesday afternoon after eagle-eyed detectives for the second time in two days tracked down men allegedly involved in recent street violence.
The standoff began shortly before 2 p.m. on one-block West Hazel Street between Dixwell Avenue and Sherman Parkway.
Detectives from New Haven’s criminal intelligence unit and shootings task force, patrolling with an officer on loan from the Yale police, were looking for a man they believed was associated with some of the recent violence in town, according to Lt. Karl Jacobson, who heads the intelligence unit. They wanted to get him off the street before further incidents occurred.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, which works with city cops on these cases, obtained a warrant to arrest the man for a violation of probation charge. So the detectives were out looking to serve the warrant.
They found the man on the steps of a yellow multi-family house. He saw them, too. He ran inside, up to the second floor, and barricaded himself.
The detectives radioed for back-up. They knew the man (who is 28) to be violent: They had arrested him on May 11 on felony gun charges, and he fought with them that day, according to Jacobson. (The charges are still pending.)
Officers Raul Periera And Christopher Cecela.
Not wanting to take chances, the police called in the SWAT team and other officers to the scene. They closed off much of the block.
Watching from beyond the yellow-tape divider, one neighbor said he had a plumber working inside his apartment, next door to the yellow house. Police told the plumber to stay inside. “That’s gonna cost me an arm and a leg now,” the man joked.
Others in the crowd expressed concern about the fate of the barricaded man, who was a relative of a tenant in the yellow house.
As officers took positions inside and around the house, they urged the man to come out. They didn’t know if he was armed.
Sgt. Elizabeth White canvasses neighbors.
After an extended stand-off, a relative helped the police to convince the man to surrender, which he did without incident. Police took him to a cruiser later to be booked. He did not have a gun on him.
Detective Sgt. Betsy Segui and Sgt. Shayna Kendall at the scene.
Officers then obtained permission to check the house “per protocol” for weapons or “people who may need assistance,” Asst. Racheal Cain reported. They didn’t find any guns or people in distress.
Right Place, Right Time, Again
Melanie Espinal Photo
Tuesday’s Huntington St. crime scene.
It turns out the same detectives made another fortuitous spot in Newhallville a day earlier.
They were investigating recent violent incidents around 1:15 p.m. when they came upon a 22 year-old man shooting a 20-year-old man on Huntington Street between Newhall and Shepard. The shooter fled in a car.
The detectives were in an unmarked car. They called in the description of the car. Patrol officers caught up with the driver, who fled briefly before crashing through a fence onto an Albertus Magnus College playing field, where he was arrested and charged with the shooting.
The shooting victim, originally listed in critical condition, remained in the hospital Wednesday in stable condition.
The detectives responsible for both days’ arrests, who have made a number of high-stakes arrests in the past year, declined to be named for this article.
That didn’t stop their supervisor, Lt. Jacobson, from singing their praises.
“They’re really good detectives,” Jacobson said. “They have a lot of good intelligence within the city that helps put them in the right places at the right time.”
Great job, and a fine example for other cities. That these situations don't have to end tragically.