More trouble this weekend in the industrial/nightclub district between I‑91 and the Mill River.
The latest trouble occurred Saturday night as midnight approached, a block from where a murder and a separate shooting took place last weekend.
Here’s what happened in the latest incident, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman:
Two victims of an armed robbery reported the crime to an officer working an extra-duty assignment at the Van Dome nightclub at Hamilton and Ives — and pointed to two fleeing men, identified as the handgun-bearing robbers.
The cop — whom police aren’t yet naming — saw the suspects get into a Volvo station wagon. The officer “exited his car, drew his gun and commanded the suspects to exit the Volvo.
“The operator of the Volvo drove the car into the officer’s vehicle. The suspect passenger got out of the car, brandishing a handgun. The suspect fired a single shot at the officer. The officer fired a single shot at the gunman. Neither the perpetrator nor officer was struck. The gunman got back in to the Volvo, which turned around and fled toward Walnut Street. The Volvo crashed into a utility pole and fence at the corner of Wallace and Walnut.
“One of the occupants was apprehended as he fled from the damaged vehicle on Wallace Street. Yale University police officers apprehended the second suspect in the area of Orange Street and Humphrey Street.
The victims ID’d the suspects, and cops found two cell phones, a wristwatch, and other stolen booty in the Volvo.
“Thus far, one of the perpetrators’ guns has been recovered. At this time, a large area search is under way for the second gun and any further evidence.”
The arrestees, New Haven men ages 22 and 23, were charged with first-degree armed robbery and attempted assault on a cop.
“As is protocol in any situation when an Officer discharges his or her weapon outside the scope of training, an investigation is conducted by the department’s shoot team,” according to Hartman.