Police are investigating a bank robbery on Sargent Drive in New Haven. 

Police said officers are at the bank robbery at 250 Sargent Drive. There is a Bank of America at that location, according to the Bank of America website. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the New Haven Police Department Detective Bureau at 203-946-6304.

Police have arrested a man who is accused of running an unlicensed vehicle repair shop in New London after an investigation that had been going on for at least three months. 

Lisandro Rodriguez, 53, of New London, is accused of making auto repairs, painting vehicles and doing maintenance on cars in the garage behind his Ocean Avenue home without a license from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, according to police. 

Car repairs had been going on for years and neighbors had complained about noise, police said. 

The property has changed hands a few times and police said the business was being run out of a residential neighborhood that is not zoned for commercial enterprises. 

Rodriguez was charged with breach of peace and violating the Connecticut code that requires a license for selling or repairing motor vehicles. 

A family of five was able to escape their Plainville home as fire consumed it Wednesday morning by climbing out a bedroom window.

Fire officials say they were they called to the single-family house at 33 Hardwood Road just before 4 a.m. and flames were coming from the roof and windows when firefighters arrived.

The mother, father and three young boys, who are all under the age of 10, who live in the home escaped through a bedroom window, according to Fire Chief Kevin Toner.

Chief Toner also said several pets were in the house at the time of the fire but have not been located.

Pam Whitman, a neighbor, said she opened her shade around 4:30 a.m. when she heard cracking and banging and saw “a wall of flames.”

“(S)o scary. I’ve had a house that burned down before and it’s so devastating. It’s just horrible. You don’t have anything,” Whitman added.

The Farmington Fire Department was called in as mutual aid for fire station coverage.

The cause of the fire that heavily damaged the house is under investigation.

A 9-year-old boy shot in New Haven Tuesday night and police said they believe the boy and his dad had been out looking for his basketball after someone took it before shots were fired.

Investigators think the boy had been outside playing basketball on a court near his home when more boys joined the game until one of them took the child’s ball and left with it. 

Soon after, the 9-year-old and his father walked around their Dixwell neighborhood and looked for the basketball, then a car picked them up. 

The father, mother and son were all in the car on Foote Street when several gunshots were fired at the family’s vehicle around 7 p.m. and the 9-year-old was struck once in the pelvis, police said. 

The family drove to Yale-New Haven Hospital and New Haven, then an ambulance transported him to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, where he is in stable condition. 

Police responded to the hospital and the scene of the shooting. 

Several neighborhood children were present during the incident and Yale Child Study Center clinicians responded to the scene, police said.

Any witnesses should call the New Haven Police Department Detective Bureau at 203-946-6304.

Police are searching for a suspect who allegedly fired shots at police after robbing a bank in Somerville, Massachusetts on Wednesday morning.

Massachusetts State Police said numerous units responded to the area of College Avenue for a report of an active shooter shortly after 10 a.m. The suspect was alleged to have robbed the Middlesex Federal Savings bank and was believed to be armed. 

State police said the suspect allegedly shot at Somerville Police. No officers were injured.

"While entering the bank he fired off a round, attempted to rob the bank, an officer entered the bank through another door, the officer and the suspect exchanged gunfire," Somerville Police Chief David Fallon said. "Immediately after that there was a foot pursuit, and we continue to look for this gentleman."

Authorities urged residents in the area to use caution, stay indoors if possible and report any suspicious persons or activity.

"We have a dangerous person still on the loose," Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said. "Report any information you may have to the Somerville Police Department and to the call lines or to the social media outlets that we provide to you."

Cambridge Police also issued an alert on Twitter urging its residents to be aware of the police activity in Somerville's Davis Square.

Arlington Police tweeted out a photo of a suspect in the bank robbery around 11 a.m. They said the suspect was about 5'10", with a medium to heavy build and fled on foot. Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact Somerville Police.

Somerville Police tweeted out a second photo of the suspect shortly after noon, again urging residents in the area to use caution and stay indoors.

Around 10:45 a.m., state police said Somerville and state police had one person in custody. But it was later determined that it was not the suspect.

"We had a person of interest, but we're confident now it was not the person," Somerville Police Capt. James Donovan said.

Aerial video from the scene showed about half a dozen police vehicles in the area. One resident said on Twitter that they saw 10 or more police cruisers speeding by.

The MBTA said Davis Station was closed due to the police investigation. Passengers are encouraged to use the route 77 bus service to Porter. Route 77 stops along Massachusetts Avenue.

No further information was immediately available.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) grew frustrated with Attorney General Barr during the Senate judiciary committee hearing Wednesday when Barr would not answer her question on whether he thought it was ok for President Trump to ask White House Counsel Don McGahn to lie on his behalf.

An Oklahoma mother facing charges in connection to the death of her 5-year-old son, who was hit by a car after falling from a rented Lime scooter she was driving, has fled the country, police said.

A spokesperson for the Tulsa Police Department said it received a Crime Stoppers tip over the weekend that Evelyn Ortiz-Luevano, who was in the country illegally, fled to Mexico after learning that a criminal case had been filed against her, NBC News reported.

As of Wednesday, Ortiz-Luevano was not in custody and a police spokesperson believes she is still in Mexico. 

Ortiz-Luevano's son, Caiden Reyes-Ortiz, died on April 23 after he fell off a rented Lime scooter his mom was driving and was hit by a car, according to a probable cause affidavit. The police spokesperson said neither appeared to have been wearing a helmet.

North Haven police are searching for three people suspected of charging thousands of dollars to a stolen credit card.

Police said the suspects pictured above charged over $7,800 total in purchases at the New Haven Apple store, North Haven Target, and North Haven T.J. Maxx on a credit card that was stolen out of a vehicle parked in North Haven on April 18.

According to police, the suspects tried to charge an additional $10,000 to the card at other locations in North Haven and New Haven the same day, but the card was declined.

Anyone who recognizes the suspects is asked to contact North haven Police Officer Keri Maciog at 203-239-5321 ext. 265.

On Wednesday UH-60 Blackhawks flew above the West Branch River Reservoir in West Hartland as the Connecticut National Guard practiced aerial water bucket training. The training is bamidone to prepare aviation crews to assist local fire departments in controlling forest fires.

“We do this to stay current on our ability to fight any sort of fires for the state,” said Major Sean Cattanach of the Connecticut National Guard. “We get in a couple pilots, some iterations here practicing so we’re always ready.”

Pilots and the crew train to work together seamlessly. Pilots cannot see where the water bucket is located while they fly so they call on their crew in the back of the aircraft for assistance.

According to the U.S. Army National Guard, the weight of the bucket can often change the flying characteristics of the aircraft. The heavy bucket also oscillates as the helicopter flies, forcing the pilot to compensate.

“We rely heavily on the crew members in the back they are kind of our eyes,” said Cattanach. “They will call out and tell us how to maneuver over the water since we cant see it in front. We take a lot of direction from them on whether to climb or descend or to fill the bucket.”

The bucket used by the Connecticut National guard in training contains about 300-gallons of water. Buckets used during missions can hold over 2,000 gallons.

“We’re the ones in the back actually releasing the water, we have the button that releases the water so the pilots are going to kind of aim where they want it and we’re responsible for making the call of when to release the water,” said Sgt. Michael Justo, Connecticut Army National Guard.

In 2015, the Connecticut National Guard was called upon to help fight forest fires in the mountains in Southern Kosovo.

“Often times we get called upon by other states, out in the west primarily to go assist them,” Cattanach explained. “The aircrafts are almost identical and the equipment is almost identical so it really just enables us to go help out anywhere.”

The National Guard conducts this type of training once a year. Though have not been called out of the state or country to assist in four years, sessions like this mean they would be able to in a moment’s notice.

The Connecticut Bankers Reward Association is offering a reward for information on a robbery in New Haven Wednesday.

New Haven Police said on Wednesday around 12:34 p.m., a male suspect robbed the Bank of America at 250 Sargent Drive. According to police, the robbery handed the teller a note, acted as thought he had a weapon, and left with an undisclosed amount of money.

The suspect drove off in a minivan that was late found on Rosette Street.

The suspect is described as a man in his 40s, 5-foot-8 with a stocky build and dark hair. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and grey sweater.

The Connecticut Bankers Reward Association is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect pictured above or with information on this case should contact the New Haven Police Department Detective Bureau at 203-946-6304.

The rodeo was in town this week, but not an ordinary one - instead of bulls, there were mechanical beasts.

The eighth annual Construction Pro Rodeo, coordinated by Associated Builders and Contractors of Connecticut, was held Tuesday and Wednesday in Wallingford. The two-day career expo brought together more than 1,000 Connecticut students to sample various trades.

The event showcased the construction industry, allowing high school juniors and seniors a truly hands-on experience.

“They’re allowed to get their hands dirty trying their hands at different trades and learn a little bit about construction,” said event organizer Chris Fryxell, the president of the Associated Builders & Contractors Connecticut Chapter.

Forty-six schools participated, experiencing a wide variety of demonstrations and activities. Trades ranged from electrical to plumbing and included excavating and what is becoming an area of need, welding.

“(Welding) is a skill set that is lacking right now,” explained David Schill, vice president of Mohawk Construction.

Schill says there are many Connecticut companies offering opportunity to welders.

“You have Electric Boat. You have the bridge industry, structural steel industry, fabricating industry,” he said, “A lot of different industries that really need this skill set and a lot of kids aren’t going into this.”

For teachers involved with their students, this event offered experience not easily available in a school setting.

“Something like this is invaluable to my students because they get out here, they actually use the equipment,” said George Phelan, a tech education teacher at Wolcott High School. “They see they’re producing something. It gains their interest and that’s what we’re here for.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average age of construction workers is 42 years old. As workers age out, there’s a growing void, and events such as this could help fill.

“We have a massive shortage of skilled craftsman in this country right now,” explained Fryxell. “The average age of the construction worker is increasing and we’re not getting enough young people to fill in those holes that are being left.”

The average age of students attending was approximately 17 to 18 years old.

For the students involved it was a valuable educational experience which was also fun, especially for those who learned to operate heavy equipment.

“To be honest it felt like I was playing one of those big video games or something like that or one of those big claw games as well,” said Wolcott High student Anthony Lawrence.

All students involved received hard hats and safety goggles, provided by numerous Connecticut construction companies sponsoring the event.

These companies also loaned many excavators and other heavy equipment, giving up the use of some valuable resources. All with the sole purpose of giving Connecticut high school students a viable alternative to consider upon graduation.

Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday did not commit to recusing himself from Justice Department investigations that have been spun off from special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. Sen. Kamala Harris, D., Calif., pressed Barr on the issue during a Senate hearing.

Immunization rates for the measles in Connecticut are some of the highest in the country, but the number of people requesting exemptions for their children have gone up, and in an effort to give parents the information they need to keep their children healthy, the state has plans to make information on immunization rates at schools available to the public.

The state’s immunization rate for the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination of kindergarteners is 96.5 percent, according to Public Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell.

However, Coleman-Mitchell acknowledges that the number of exemptions to getting the vaccine has gone up. In a letter sent to superintendents across the state on Tuesday, Coleman-Mitchell announced that the state will begin making information on immunization rates at the school-level public.

The state says it’s been collecting this data from school districts for decades, but has only made county and state rates public. By the end of this week, you’ll be able to look up your child’s school to see the percentage of students who are unvaccinated. This information is especially important for parents with children who suffer from immune disorders that prevent them from being vaccinated.

“I feel like people are entitled to the confidentiality but I also feel like people should also know the amount of kids that aren’t vaccinated. I think it helps parents make a better choice,” said Alison LeClair, the parent of a 2- and 4-year-old in Southington.

“I think it’s a great idea. One to be knowledgeable of what is in our school and if your children are at risk then that should be public knowledge,” added Jill Petruzzi, a Southington parent whose two children attend parochial school.

The database will include information from all public and private schools with over 30 students. Information will not be limited to the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, but will include all childhood vaccines required to enter school.

“It’s become increasingly clear that there is a demand for this information, public health departments all around us have made this information available to their residents so parents can make informed decisions about schools in their communities,” explained State Epidemiologist Dr. Matthew Carter.

Carter said the state has been trying since 2014 to make this data public, after a measles outbreak in California. In fact, the department tried to move legislation through the state to make it a requirement. The bill failed in 2017. Now, Coleman-Mitchell is using her power to make school immunization rates public and says she has the support of Connecticut’s education commissioner.

“The Department of Public Health’s goal in releasing school-level information is to increase public awareness of immunization rates in local communities, which may lead to increased engagement and focus on increasing immunization rates to reduce the risk of vaccine-preventable disease,” Coleman-Mitchell said in the letter.

Southington’s Derynoski Elementary School had a scare last year when an adult who worked in the building contracted measles. It was an eye-opening experience for school leaders.

Superintendent Timothy Connellan said any child or adult who hadn’t been vaccinated was ordered to stay out of school for three weeks. While the district has a 98 percent vaccination rate, the real issue was the faculty, many of whom had no way of proving they had been vaccinated as children. Dozens of teachers and staff stayed home until the incubation period was over.

“Honestly, we were on the verge of having to close the school,” said Connellan.

Districtwide there are 130 students who are exempt from being vaccinated either for religious or medical reasons. However, he said there’s no way of knowing how many faculty aren’t vaccinated.

“I’m convinced that we do need to have some state-level action,” he said. “I personally think that the adults who work with children in our public schools should be required to show documentation,” he said.

Connellan said their health director is lobbying lawmakers to make that change and hopes it sparks a conversation in other school districts.

“Measles is just not something that we have had to talk about,” said Connellan pointed out.

The disease was considered eradicated in the year 2000, but has made a comeback. Officials point to vaccination exemptions and unfounded fears over autism as the cause.

While the health department hopes the information will encourage more vaccinations, parents we spoke to think it will add fuel to debate.

“There will be people that I’m pretty sure will be upset,” said Petruzzi.

“Yes, we need to protect our children from any current outbreaks but I feel like parents are also really considering what they’re putting into their kids bodies right now,” added LeClair.

Connellan hopes making that information public will inject a new level awareness into the debate over vaccinations.

“If there’s a medical reason certainly you understand that. I understand there’s a religious exemption and who are we to argue that point? I just want to be in a situation where our students are as safe as they can possibly be,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is getting some strong reaction on social media after advising people to not wash raw chicken.  In a recent tweet, the CDC urged consumers to avoid washing raw chicken saying that "During washing, chicken juices can spread in the kitchen and contaminate other foods, utensils, and countertops."

On the CDC's own website, it lists its top 10 tips to avoid salmonella poisoning and one of the tips in bold is: Do not wash raw chicken.

The tweet caused quite the debate online.

The CDC responded three days later saying: “We didn’t mean to get you all hot about not washing your chicken! But it’s true: kill germs by cooking chicken thoroughly, not washing it. You shouldn’t wash any poultry, meat, or eggs before cooking. They can all spread germs around your kitchen. Don’t wing food safety!”

The CDC has more details on salmonella prevention on its website.

It’s around 1:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning in East Haven and behind the wheel of a stolen SUV is a 15-year-old.

While one officer chases after the teen, two others responding to the pursuit crash into each other.

The teen is given a dozen charges, a court date and then gets taken home to a guardian.

“It’s dangerous for them, it’s dangerous for our officers,” Madison Police Chief Jack Drumm said.

They are similar scenes playing out in Connecticut’s smaller suburban towns. More and more juveniles are stealing cars and taking them on dangerous even deadly joyrides, often facing little if no penalties.

“Those that are apprehended are out on the street within a short period of time and continuing to do that.” Drumm said.

In March a 17-year-old from Hartford was killed after he was ejected from a Mercedes SUV stolen in Madison.

Drumm says the teens, repeat offenders, in three SUVs, made multiple loops around the Route 80/Route 79 traffic circle as if to taunt a nearby patrol officer.

“By our radio transmissions and our video the officer tried to close in on them and she could not,” Drumm said.

The teens topped speeds of more than 100 miles per hour before the pursuit was called off. The Mercedes later rolling several times off the roadway in Durham, killing the 17-year-old. The deadly crash now under investigation by Connecticut State Police.

“It’s not unheard of that a community miles from any major city will have cars taken,” Drumm said.

Drumm says his department has seen about 50 car thefts within the last two years. It’s a major increase, and Connecticut towns with fewer than 25,000 people are seeing more of the problem.

“It used to be predominately concentrated in our major urban cities, Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven,” Ken Barone, a project manager with the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at Central Connecticut State University said.

This legislative session, Barone has been tapped by Connecticut lawmakers considering harsher punishment for repeat juvenile offenders to share his research on motor vehicle theft trends.

“We’ve got several more smaller suburban towns that used to see very few if any motor vehicle thefts that are now all of the sudden dealing with five, 10, 15, 20 motor vehicle thefts a year,” Barone said.

“People are certainly demanding that something be done, people are frustrated,” Rep. Craig Fishbein (R -Wallingford) said.

State lawmakers like Fishbein are now left to decide on proposed legislation that would hold juveniles stealing cars accountable as adults.

“When we hear about these children, then a week later being arrested again obviously whatever happened didn’t work,” Fishbein said.

While Fishbein supports diversionary programs for first time offenders, he says juveniles who choose to steal a car again should face consequences.

“Committing a crime at most levels is a choice and bad choices should end up with some sort of penalty,” Fishbein said.

Chief Drumm argues that many of the juvenile offenders he sees are already off track.

“You have some sort of educational component and some sort of therapy component and psychological work for that justice system to work,” Drumm said.

What both this police chief and lawmaker agree on, if improvements aren’t made soon, juvenile joyrides like these could continue at top speed.

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA officer charged with conspiring to give Chinese spies highly classified information about the CIA's covert operations in China, is expected to plead guilty Wednesday, NBC News reported, citing court filings.

Lee, a 53-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who worked for the CIA for 13 years, was arrested in New York in January 2018 after arriving on a flight from his home in Hong Kong. He was initially charged with illegally possessing classified information — two handwritten notebooks containing names and phone numbers of covert CIA employees and informants.

Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury on an additional count of espionage last May. Prosecutors said two Chinese intelligence officers offered to pay Lee for information in 2010 and that he continued to receive instructions from them until at least the following year.

New surveillance video may provide clues about what led up to a police shooting in New Haven involving Hamden and Yale officers.

It all started with the report of an armed robbery at a gas station in Hamden.

The manager of that gas station told NBC Connecticut off-camera that the surveillance video shows that his clerk had no choice but to call 911, but there was no gun seen in the video.

The uncle of the driver police shot at says it proves the clerk falsely reported a crime.

The surveillance shows an altercation that the manager of the gas station says prompted his clerk to call 911. The investigation led to an incident that ended with a Hamden and Yale police officer opening fire on an unarmed couple in a car.

"The first domino that fell was right here and we need to refocus on that first domino,” said Rodney Williams, whose nephew Paul Witherspoon was one of the victims of that shooting.

Williams said the video is proof that the clerk should never have called 911.

“We could look at it and his hands was doing this his hands was doing that but we need to understand there was a 911 that triggered something tragic in our community"

In the original 911 call, the gas station clerk reported an attempted robbery. But he later told investigators he never saw Witherspoon with a firearm, and Connecticut State Police found no evidence of a gun in the car where Witherspoon’s passenger Stephanie Washington was hit by police gunfire.

"That 911 and what happened that don't line up,” Williams said.

In the video, the delivery man walks up to the window. There’s no audio, so it’s not known what was said. Witherspoon follows the man back to his car, and is seen tapping the back of the white car as it drives off.

“That don't look like no robbery.” Williams said.

Later, the video shows Witherspoon extending his arm pointed at the gas station window. He’s also seen knocking on the window.

The video then shows him drive off before he returns and parks his car by the gas pump.

The manager said his clerk was concerned about Witherspoon harassing customers and that he called 911 after the red car returned.

Williams said the clerk should be charged with filing a false report. He also said he wants the business shut down.

The manager defended his clerk’s decision to call 911, thought that employee no longer works there.

The shooting has prompted protests calling for the firing of the officers involved. The investigation is ongoing.

One of the two students killed when a gunman opened fire at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte was hailed as a hero by authorities Wednesday for confronting the shooter and ultimately giving his life to save others, NBC News reported.

Riley Howell, 21, and Ellis Parlier, 19, were the students shot dead Tuesday as four others were wounded during the last day of classes, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

"What you may not hear is the first and foremost hero, as far as I’m concerned, and his name is Riley Howell," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Wednesday.

On the same day the Trump administration said it would reunite thousands of migrant families it had separated at the border with the help of a "central database," an official was admitting privately the government only had enough information to reconnect 60 parents with their kids, according to emails obtained by NBC News.

"[I]n short, no, we do not have any linkages from parents to [children], save for a handful," a Health and Human Services official told a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 23, 2018. "We have a list of parent alien numbers but no way to link them to children."

In the absence of an effective database, the emails show, officials then began scrambling to fill out a simple spreadsheet with data in hopes of reuniting as many as families as they could.

Firefighters with the West Shore Fire District tin West Haven have agreed to forgo a pay raise to ease the burden on taxpayers.

The fire district members said they known the challenges faced in the city, and the state, so they’re making the move to do what they can to make a difference, with the hope that the financial climate will eventually improve.

“That's wonderful and I think if we all went without a small amount of money, we could do a lot of changes,” said West Haven resident Chere Aiudi-Washenko

Residents were pleased to hear about the unexpected move by one of their town’s fire districts, which will save them money in the coming years.

For the next two years, the more than 30 firefighters in the West Shore Fire District won’t see any pay increases. As part of their contract extension, the union opted to forgo any raises to help lower the tax burden for all residents.

“We understand there's a lot of people in the city that are making sacrifices and we want them to know that we're sacrificing right there with them,” explained Christopher Haley of Local 1198, West Shore Professional Firefighters.

The union voted unanimously to approve the change, opting not to receive increases of 1.75 percent annually, which is projected to save taxpayers $270,000 over two years.

“It was a lot to ask of them. I was really good that we were able to come to terms,” said Robert Bruneau, a West Shore fire commissioner.

The fire district says it’s taken big cuts from the state – around $225,000 a year in pilot money in addition to a bigger mandated retirement obligation, making the need to find savings even more essential.

With that in mind, members said they thought this was the right move, and one they hope others around a cash-strapped Connecticut will follow.

“Not only first responders, I think hopefully the rest of the city and state follow suit. Everyone needs to come together and make cuts somewhere. We need to make sacrifices, clearly, or else it's just not going to work,” said Evan Mink, a West Shore fire commissioner.

The fire district members say while they’re glad to make this change for the greater good, they hope when the next contract negotiation rolls around in a few years, they won’t need to make this concession.