When he spotted a man lying in the road, a driver got out and tried to help.
It turned out the “injured” man was actually a carjacker with an assault rifle, police said.
Here’s what happened, according to police spokesman Officer Joe Avery:
A man was driving on Hubinger Street at 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday when he saw a man lying in the road. He told police he thought the man was injured. But when he got out to help, the man stood up and pointed an AK-47 at the driver. A second man came from behind and put a gun to the driver’s head. They took his money, phone and car.
Police used the Lojack system to find the car, but did not locate the muggers.
Edgewood neighborhood activist Eliezer Greer had this to say about the crime: “This incident is of concern to the community. Increase of evening (C) shift police presence in this section of District 10 is an urgent need; the various neighborhood patrols will increase their presence as well. We always look to improve eyes and ears after such neighborhood occurrences to protect future victims of crimes.”
In other police news, according to Avery:
The I‑91 Diner on Middletown Avenue was robbed early Wednesday morning. Police responded at 3:35 a.m. to a burglar alarm. They found the side window had been smashed. Police found no one inside. The diner lost $200 out of the cash register. New Haven police noted that East Haven and Branford police reported similar incidents within minutes of the robbery.
$9,800, $9,900 and $9,800
A U.S. District judge sentenced Nicholas DelMaro, 28, to two years of probation on Tuesday for structuring cash transactions. The judge also ordered the New Haven man to pay a fine of $5,000 and forfeit $250,000 to the government. DelMaro pleaded guilty to cash structuring charges on Dec. 4, 2009.
Federal law requires that financial institutions report currency transactions of over $10,000, even if the the funds are legitimately earned. DelMaro avoided that requirement by structuring his transactions in amounts of less than $10,000. For example, on three consecutive days in Aug. 2008, DelMaro made withdrawals from People’s Bank of $9,800, $9,900 and $9,800.
Crime Map
Click here for a list of major crimes for Feb. 16. Click on the image below to see those incidents placed on a citywide map.
NHPD
For block-by-block year-to-date crime information, plus daily crime maps, check out the Independent’s Crime Log.