Officer Knox Listens
by | Oct 26, 2012 3:04 pm | Comments (1)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Cops closed in on an alleged shooter. Meanwhile, another officer was on duty in the hospital — with a grieving mother who needed to talk and to be heard.
Cop of the Week
Reality TV Had To Wait
by | Oct 19, 2012 2:00 pm | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
Real Housewives episodes piled up on Detective Manuella Vensel’s DVR this week. She was too busy hunting down the shooters of a 16-month-old baby to come home to watch.
Mercy Came Knocking
by | Sep 28, 2012 2:00 pm | Comments (4)
Paul Bass Photo
Sgt. Campbell outside the police academy, which he just took over.
A new teacher turned up at a training academy classroom to address New Haven’s police recruits the other day. He told a parable about the night he almost lost his life to a gun-toting driver of a Dodge Intrepid.
The parable ends with a remarkable act of mercy. The teacher left that part out. For a reason.
Grandma’s Mugger Didn’t Get Far
by | Sep 21, 2012 2:29 pm | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
Officer Matt Williams got one of the biggest rewards that can come from doing his job right: two words from a 67-year-old woman who’d been traumatized outside the front door of her apartment by a gun-wielding PCP head.
Gun Grab 101 Begins With A Bang
by | Sep 11, 2012 12:03 pm | Comments (2)
Paul Bass Photo
The rookie looked to the veteran for guidance about his new terrain. Then came a sound the rookie knew well — a gunshot headed possibly in his direction.
Chemo Complete, Cop Walks Toward Sunset
by | Aug 31, 2012 12:59 pm | Comments (5)
Paul Bass Photo
Paul Bicki confronted an existential question about his renewed life as a beat cop — in the form of an orange.
Smitty Keeps His Distance
by | Aug 3, 2012 8:47 am | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
“Police officer!” Lt. Allen Smith called out into the dark. “Anybody there?”
Nobody answered. But the answer was yes.
Officer Dives Into Shell Game
by | Jul 27, 2012 12:23 pm | Comments (9)
Paul Bass Photo
Officer Salvadore Rodriguez had nothing against baby turtles. He just didn’t want vendors selling tiny live ones on the street — and potentially poisoning kids.
Blood Mystery Haunted Them All Week
by | Jul 18, 2012 11:46 am | Comments (4)
Paul Bass Photo
Blood covered the counters. It covered the floor. It covered the table.
And it covered Officers Jeremie Elliott and Scott Shumway. Once they finished saving a victim’s life, they began waiting … and waiting … to learn their own fates.
A Dark Corner Prompts A Fateful Gamble
by | Jul 6, 2012 3:29 pm | Comments (3)
Nicolás Medina Mora Pérez Photo
It was 1 in the morning, and Officer Martin Feliciano was running as fast as he could through Farnam Courts’ labyrinth of alleyways.
The man he was chasing turned a corner. Feliciano had seconds to think. Should he stop and risk losing the suspect? Or go ahead and risk finding a gun in his face?
That Package Was In Suspicious Hands
by | Jun 27, 2012 3:39 pm | Comments (4)
Paul Bass Photo
Ron Perry knew East Rock had suffered a rash of burglaries. He knew he’d never seen the man on the Livingston Street porch before. He also knew that package in his hand didn’t look like it belonged there.
They Arrived Just In Time
by | May 25, 2012 11:00 am | Comments (3)
Paul Bass Photo
White and Alston.
Craig Alston burst through the door to find a 14-year-old girl in a choke hold and blood pouring from her head.
Detective Solves Murder Mystery—& Can Retire
by | May 8, 2012 6:39 pm | Comments (6)
Paul Bass Photo
Joe Pettola couldn’t rest until he found out who killed basketball standout T.J. Mathis. Tuesday afternoon he brought good news to Mathis’ parents: He’d solved the case.
Continue reading ‘Detective Solves Murder Mystery—& Can Retire’
“Ghost” Trail Leads To Dirt Bikers
by | Apr 20, 2012 2:09 pm | Comments (8)
Paul Bass Photo
A woman called the cops after seeing a dirt biker tear down Norton Street. Carlos Conceicao and Josh Kyle turned the corner wondering if the call was about the biker they’d been looking for. They had a “ghost” of an idea of how to catch him — on foot.
For “Starsky & Hutch,” Armed Teen Was No Joke
by | Apr 9, 2012 11:18 am | Comments (1)
Finally, when the 6‑foot‑2 16-year-old who threatened to shoot him was safely behind bars, John Kaczor got behind the wheel of his cruiser. He turned to his partner in the passenger seat, Alex Morgillo. The two could finally relax. They could start joking as usual as they headed back to the night-time streets.
Continue reading ‘For “Starsky & Hutch,” Armed Teen Was No Joke’
Rivera Looks To The Left
by | Mar 23, 2012 2:00 pm | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
The other cops checked out potential suspects at the basketball courts where a shoot-out had just occurred. Arriving in an unmarked car, Officer David Rivera focused on a man down the street — who kept looking over his shoulder.
Rivera knew that look.
She Jumped The Fence. Again
by | Jan 13, 2012 2:07 pm | Comments (11)
Paul Bass Photo
Behind her, bullets were exploding from a burning car on I‑95 off Exit 52. Ahead of her, the driver, whom she’d been chasing from the west side of New Haven, had fled into woods. A rickety 6‑to-7-foot-high chain link fence blocked her path.
Piece of cake.
“Shake ‘n’ Bake” Looks To Save The Next Quelly
by | Nov 11, 2011 3:27 pm | Comments (12)
Paul Bass Photo
A boy in Dixwell just turned 13. The older boys want him to hang out with them. They indulge in mischief. So Officer James Baker made the boy what he hopes is a better offer.
Continue reading ‘“Shake ‘n’ Bake” Looks To Save The Next Quelly’
Psst ... There’s The Thief. & Thanks
by | Oct 28, 2011 11:56 am | Comments (6)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Officers Diego Quintero and Elvin Rivera.
Officer Elvin Rivera was going through backyards off Wolcott Street “like a hound dog” trying to find an alleged purse-snatcher. He knew he was holed up somewhere nearby. Suddenly someone whispered to him through a fence: The guy’s hiding in the house on the corner.
A Wipeout Loomed
by | Sep 19, 2011 1:28 pm | Comments (11)
Paul Bass Photo
The fleeing driver tore his Chevy HHR through the red light. Gunning his police-issue 2003 Harley Davidson Police Road King, Officer Robert DuPont followed fast behind. Then he saw the cars in the middle of the intersection. He saw all that sand in the road. He saw a wipeout in his immediate future — unless he could remember what he’d recently un-learned.
The Texans Kept Circling
by | Aug 12, 2011 1:32 pm | Comments (27)
Paul Bass Photo
Stephanija VanWilgen was thinking about getting to work, not about stopping dangerous drivers behind the wheel, when she pulled up beside two Texans in a beat-up station wagon.
He Had A Hunch—& A Ruse Or Two
by | Aug 5, 2011 11:30 am | Comments (17)
Paul Bass Photo
Down the block, a driver stopped short when he saw Juan Ingles’ cop car. Ingles couldn’t see the driver well; the driver couldn’t see him. Fatefully, each guessed the other’s thoughts and plotted their next moves.
“Cookies & Cream” Get A Hand
by | Jun 13, 2011 11:00 am | Comments (4)
Paul Bass Photo
If a woman on Howard Avenue hadn’t whipped out her cellphone and snapped a photo of the teen trying to break into her home, Officers Rob Clark and Joe Roberts would “still be chasing ghosts.”
Sarge, Social Worker Rescue Ruoppolo’s Seniors
by | May 25, 2011 11:00 am | Comments (23)
Paul Bass Photo
Johnson at Ruoppolo; he’s being honored today for his work there.
Dealers and prostitutes were taking over apartments. The seniors were scared. Herb Johnson and Karla Miller decided they had to do something, working together.
Continue reading ‘Sarge, Social Worker Rescue Ruoppolo’s Seniors’
Human Odor, Not Gunpowder, Led To .380
by | Apr 25, 2011 3:00 pm | Comments (9)
Cops chased the alleged gun traffickers and caught up with them on the Farmington Canal Trail. But a handgun was still missing somewhere out in the dark. It was time to call in a top crime-fighter on four legs.