Police don’t know whether an argument over canine bathroom habits led to a fire erupting in a tree on Valley Street.
They do know that someone made off with $5,000 worth of copper fittings, and someone else climbed a fence at the Connecticut Tennis Center and carted away powered landscaping equipment. And they discovered that a phony Craiglist ad apparently separated a Missouri woman of $1,750 that she thought was securing her an apartment on Central Avenue.
Those are among the highlights in the latest weekly crime summary from top West Hills/ West Rock/ Westville/ Amity/ Beaver Hills cop Lt. Rose Dell.
Her summary follows:
FROM 9/22/19 to 9/28/19 POLICE RESPONDED TO 181 CALLS FOR SERVICE IN THE WESTVILLE/WEST HILLS SECTION OF NEW HAVEN. THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF NOTABLE INCIDENTS:
Police received two reports, on different dates, of a male masturbating in West Rock Park. He was described as a young, light skinned, black male with a mole on the left side of his nose. He wore plaid shorts and a light blue t‑shirt. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) was contacted, and they will have additional Officers assigned to patrol the trails.
On 9/22, police responded to the report of a person shot at Brookside Avenue and Level Street. The victim was transported to the hospital where he was listed in stable condition. The Detectives responded to the scene to collect evidence and review video surveillance footage.
A resident of Valley Street was informed by her neighbor that a tree in front of her residence was engulfed in flames. The Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire. The resident did not believe anyone wished to harm her, but she did have an argument with another neighbor the previous day. Her dog urinated on the neighbor’s property. He demanded that it be removed even though the dog did not deposit any solid matter.
Two iPhone charging cables were stolen from an unlocked vehicle on Knollwood Drive overnight on 9/23. On 9/22, a rice cooker wrapped in shiny purple gift wrap and a black backpack which contained a wallet were stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked in the Regal Inn lot. The car owner said the driver’s door needs to be fixed since the lock doesn’t work.
A Missouri resident responded to an ad on Craigslist for a rental property on Central Avenue. She agreed to pay $1750, for rent and the security deposit. She used Zelle (an online person-to-person payment network) to send the money. On 9/24, she arrived at the residence with her suitcases and was told that the residence was never listed as a rental on Craigslist.
A Honda CR‑V was stolen sometime between 9/21 – 9/25 on Hard Street. The vehicle has Tennessee plates.
Police responded to a construction site on Emerson Street for a burglary. Sometime between 9/26 – 9/27, a portion of the fence surrounding the site was torn down. Multiple boxes of copper fittings, worth around $5,000, were stolen from an unsecured area in a building. A hard hat was located near the torn fence.
Numerous pieces of powered landscaping equipment were stolen from the Yale Tennis Center between 9/27 – 9/28. A large plastic garbage can was placed upside down and used as a makeshift step stool to climb the fence. The items were removed from a storage container.
On 9/29, shortly after midnight, Detectives were conducting crime suppression when they heard a gunshot on Pond Lily Avenue near the intersection of Bank Street. Detectives traveled to the area and located a male in a driveway holding a black handgun. He cooperated with Officers, dropped the gun and laid on his stomach. He explained that he was in his house watching television when he heard people outside. He looked outside and saw three people on his property. He turned his outside lights on, and the three people left. Around 2 – 3 minutes later they returned. He went outside to ask the subjects to leave when one began to argue with him. He then let off a “warning shot” into the ground. The resident had a valid pistol permit. He was arrested and charged with Unlawful Discharge of a Firearm.