Nina Lentini Photos
Cops investigate scene of Thursday-morning stabbing at Winchester Avenue (including 235 Winchester, at right) and Tilton Street.
Spiked strips stopped a fleeing fugitive’s car. But not before he slammed into a federal agent’s vehicle.
That was the upshot of an incident that occurred Tuesday in the Hill.
It occurred during an undercover drug investigation by New Haven cops in conjunction with state police and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
The agents spotted a 36-year-old New Haven man selling what turned out to be fentanyl. They moved to arrest him; he fled in a car.
The state police placed the strips with tire-deflating spikes in the road to prevent him from fully getting away. That slowed him down. It didn’t fully stop him. He crashed into the DEA vehicle at Sylvan Avenue and Elliott Street, injuring two DEA agents.
The man was caught with 148 grams of fentanyl and arrested on federal charges, according to Police Chief Karl Jacobson. The arrestee previously pleaded guilty to a felony tampering charge in 2015; a felony narcotics offense in 2021, for which he received a suspended seven-year prison sentence; and a misdemeanor charge in 2018 of interfering with police.
Jacobson said the DEA agents were checked out at the hospital and did not suffer serious injuries.
Paul Bass Photo
Detective Samantha Romano, pictured at center at Thursday's presser with Sgt. Scott Shumway and Capt. John Healy, was credited with cracking two sexual-assault cases.
That was among a number of arrests and other crime-related developments discussed at a Thursday press conference at 1 Union Ave. police headquarters. Other news included:
• Police arrested a man for allegedly vandalizing City Hall at 4:42 a.m. Thursday. Mayor Justin Elicker said the man threw rocks, breaking four first-floor windows and one second-floor window as well as damaging lights by the Amistad statue. “The individual was struggling with mental health issues” and did not appear to be targeting anyone, Elicker said.
• Police have arrested a 17-year-old accused of engaging in a shoot-out with another person at 2:42 p.m. on Dec. 21 — hitting a school bus in the process. (The kids and driver inside the bus were unhurt.) Jacobson said police have identified the other shooter and expect to arrest that person soon as well. Detective Joseph Blake led that investigation.
• Police have arrested a 22-year-old West Haven man for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman in 2021; and a 34-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting an 8‑year-old in 2022. The second man was arrested in Springfield, Mass.; New Haven cops went to Springfield Thursday to serve the warrant and bring him here to face his charges. Detective Samantha Romano led both investigations.
• Someone stabbed a 41-year-old Tilton Street man in the face and neck near his home Thursday between 4 and 5 a.m. The man claimed to have been out at a corner store when someone he didn’t know attacked him. Jacobson described the man as in stable condition at the hospital. Police are investigating the incident.
• So far in 2023 the city has seen four shootings, compared to eight shootings at this time last year. Three of the four shootings this year have been fatal; none of the eight were in early 2021. Jacobson said police have made progress in investigating the recent homicides.
“Some beefs resurfaced. Some people were out of jail who in my opinion should not have been out of jail,” Jacobson said. “We’re all over it; it’s about stopping the violence.”
Paul Bass Photo
Mayor Elicker and Chief Jacobson at Thursday's press briefing.