Mystic Police are investigating a robbery at the People’s United Bank at 12 Roosevelt Avenue on Friday morning.
Police responded to the bank at 11:24 a.m. and witnesses said a heavy-set man with a handgun demanded money and fled with cash.
No injuries were reported.
Police said they are working on getting surveillance photos and might distribute them later.
A mother and 2-year-old child were taken to the hospital after being struck by a car that was speeding to catch the Fishers Island Ferry in New London on Friday morning.
Witnesses told police the car was speeding through the parking lot to make the 11:30 a.m. ferry when it struck the mother and child. The accident happened at 11:35 a.m., according to police.
The driver, Sherief Ayoub of Scottsdale, Arizona, was charged with reckless driving and is being held on bond.
Police said the mother and daughter were taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Their conditions are unknown.
The ferry is still running.
No additional information was immediately available.
Americans rattled by the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 — believed to have killed 298 people, most of them Dutch — are paying their respects at the Dutch Embassy in D.C., where flowers mark a growing memorial and where mourners will hold a candlelight vigil Friday evening.
"I can only imagine the pain and grief," said Dutch native Arno Zegerman, who was at the embassy Friday morning. "It's horrible news."
A sign of sympathy and flowers of nearly every color mark the outside of the embassy, and the flag is flying at half-staff.
Mourners will gather at the embassy at 6 p.m. Friday for a candlelight vigil and walk to the Embassy of Malaysia. Participants are being asked to bring candles and wear black clothing if possible.
The ambassador will also host a private moment of silence for Dutch Embassy staff.
The embassy staff is monitoring developments from afar. It said in a statement that Dutch Ambassador Rudolf Bekink joins government officials to demand an independent and transparent investigation into what happened in the skies over Ukraine on Thursday.
"The Netherlands is deeply shocked by the terrible air disaster involving flight MH17. We mourn all those who were on board, whatever their nationality," the statement read in part. "Our thoughts are with their loved ones, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. The Dutch government is doing all it can to gain clarity for the victims’ families as swiftly as possible."
Bekink also offered a message of condolences on wrote on Twitter. "My heart goes out to the passengers of MH17, their family and friends," he wrote.
Next week, the embassy will welcome the public into its lobby to offer their condolences by signing a registry. Those who wish to leave messages can do so between 10 a.m. and noon, and between 2 and 4 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday.
An online condolence registry can be found here (Dutch) and here (English).
A 75-year-old pilot who landed his single-engine plane on a Long Island highway last week made another emergency landing on the same stretch of road Friday, police say.
No one was hurt when the yellow plane landed on Sunrise Highway near East Moriches around 1 p.m. The plane was moved to the side of the road.
The pilot, Frank Fierro, said a burnt fuse caused the engine of his home-made plane to stall today and last week.
The FAA inspected the plane after the previous highway landing and returned it to Fierro.
He was the only one on board, authorities said.
Fierro vowed to fly again, despite the wishes of his wife, who wants him to stop.
A Danbury native is back home to take charge of the USS Springfield, an attack submarine based in Groton.
Cmdr. Daniel Lombardo was formally appointed at a change-of-command ceremony Friday, according to the Navy.
He graduated from Danbury High School in 1993 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering the U.S. Naval Academy. Lombardo later attended Old Dominion University and obtained a master’s degree in engineering management, according to the Navy.
Lombardo has served aboard the USS Florida and USS Tuscon. He was also executive officer of the USS Alaska, the Navy said. His on-shore assignments have included tours at the Office of Naval Intelligence and Anti-Submarine Forces Western Atlantic.
Most recently, Lombardo served on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the Navy.
He’s taking over for Cmdr. Christian Williams, who had served as commander since 2012 and led the Springfield on a six-month deployment last year, according to the Navy. He was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal and will head to Washington, D.C. to serve on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations.
In 2013, the USS Springfield became the first vessel in the U.S. Central Command region to earn a 100-percent readiness grade in the Middle East since 2010, the Navy said.
A car and motorcycle collided at the intersection of Worthington Ridge and Mill Street in Berlin, and officers are directing traffic at the scene, police said.
The crash happened Friday afternoon near the entrance to Route 9 southbound. No road closures are in place, but traffic is backed, according to police.
Witnesses at the scene said emergency responders performed CPR on the motorcycle driver. The extent of injuries is unknown.
No additional information was immediately available.
A retired FAA investigator is confident that the professionals being sent to the debris field of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 will come up with conclusive evidence.
"Oh they'll get to the bottom of it," said Ed Garelick. "No doubt in my mind they'll figure out what happened."
Garelick, who was with the FAA for 43 years and spent the final 18 as an accident investigator, said that even though the crash scene has been compromised, there are clues untrained people would not recognize.
"The evidence is still there," Garelick said. "You can't completely destroy the evidence and the teams that are going in there – they're very good at what they do."
President Barack Obama confirmed Friday that at least one American was aboard the Malaysian Airlines jetliner that crashed in Ukraine after being shot down Thursday morning.
Pro-Russian separatists control the area of the crash site, according to Obama.
"They're gonna have the ability to analyze the parts that are on the ground, analyze the pieces that are in the debris field, and be able to piece together what happened," Garelick said.
Residues will be important evidence, Garelick said, evidence of fuel burning, explosives or missile propellant.
The immigration debate continues in Connecticut after Gov. Dannel Malloy turned down the federal government’s request to house undocumented children at a facility in Southbury.
“I have to say to you that I don’t believe that these large facilities to mass folks is the right way to go,” Malloy said Friday.
Malloy said a large part of his decision was due to the insufficient size and safety of the facilities in question, which would have sheltered 1,000-2,000 undocumented immigrant children who have recently entered the country without adults.
“We were asked specifically about Southbury, and that place just isn’t in shape,” Malloy said. “We have lead problems, we have asbestos problems.”
According to a letter from Malloy’s Chief of Staff, Mark Ojakian, to State Rep. Juan Candelaria, federal authorities first contacted Malloy’s office July 3.
“The request for assistance was quite narrow,” wrote Ojakian. “Among other requirements, the agencies were seeking facilities that contained no less than 90,000 square feet of open space, which needed to be ready and available for immediate use. The facilities also needed to be ADA and NEPA compliant, with additional outside space as needed for trailers that hold showers, restrooms, and kitchens. As has been reported, GSA made specific inquiries into whether the Southbury Training School might fit these needs.”
He went on to say that the Southbury school and other vacant properties were reviewed and shown to be inadequate.
Candelaria said Malloy’s decision doesn’t seem to be an outright “no.”
“It’s not that the governor said no, it is ‘no’ to the Southbury facility,” Candelaria said. “[Are] there other possibilities that we can house these children?”
Although he hasn’t named alternative ideas, Candelaria is hoping for a creative solution.
“I know that families have actually come forward and said, ‘You know, we want to house these people,’” he said.
Massachusetts has approved two locations, but Malloy points out that one of those sites is on federal property. He said Connecticut will continue to cooperate but that Washington must also do its part.
“The Congress of the United States has an obligation to pass the bill, to appropriate the funds necessary to do this work,” Malloy said. “They also should pass comprehensive immigration reform. But with respect to our ongoing work with the federal government, we will continue to be a partner."
If you’ve gotten a call from the fire department soliciting chimney inspections, you might want to think twice – the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company says it’s a hoax.
According to the fire company, scammers have been calling residents “to pressure the homeowner with scare tactics talking about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.”
The fire department said police are investigating and that authorities are not responsible for these calls.
Anyone who receives such a call should contact Simsbury police at 860-658-3100.
State police arrested an 18-year-old man who is accused of breaking into a Montville home, going into a bedroom where three girls were sleeping and waking one of them up, state police said.
The father of the girl who was woken called 911 at 11:48 p.m. and said his daughter and two other girls were asleep in her room when a man they did not know came in, police said.
The intruder, identified as Alex Petherick, 18, of Montville, staying in the house for a short time before he was startled and ran out of the bedroom and left the house, state police said.
State troopers, State Police K9 teams and detectives from the Eastern District Major Crime Squad searched the area.
After finding evidence and speaking to witnesses, police identified Petherick as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant charging him with home invasion, fourth-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor. Bond was set at $150,000.
The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Daniel W. Hamlett, Sr., who is wanted in connection with the armed robbery of a Seymour bank and is considered armed and dangerous.
Hamlett, 52, is accused of robbing the Webster Bank at 15 New Haven Road in Seymour the afternoon of April 19, 2013. A federal arrest warrant obtained this past March will charge Hamlett with armed bank robbery and aiding and abetting.
He’s on the run and the New Haven Division of the FBI is asking for the public’s help in tracking him down.
According to the FBI, Hamlett pulled up to the bank around 3 p.m. April 19, 2013 and parked in a handicapped spot. A customer leaving the bank spotted Hamlett with a mask over his face and quickly continued to his car.
The customer got in and locked the doors, but Hamlett followed him and pulled out a black handgun, the FBI said. He smashed the driver’s side window and demanded money. When the customer said he didn’t have any, Hamlett took his wallet and keys and ordered the customer not to move, according to the FBI.
He then walked into the bank and the customer ran to a nearby business to call 911.
The FBI said Hamlett entered the bank with his gun drawn and yelled at everyone to get down on the floor. He jumped the counter and grabbed a teller, demanding that she open her drawer.
According to the FBI, Hamlett took the money from her drawer and from another teller’s. He also grabbed both dye packs so the stolen cash wouldn’t be marked.
Hamlett jumped back over the counter and walked out the front door. He entered a teal Ford Taurus-type vehicle with a license plate ending in YHC and was last seen getting onto Route 8 northbound, the FBI said.
A federal warrant for his arrest was issued March 13 of this year. The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.
Hamlett is considered armed and dangerous. He's described as black man standing 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighing 160 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and scars on his chin and right arm, according to the FBI. His left arm is also tattooed.
Anyone with information should contact the FBI New Haven Division at 203-777-6311.
Another Hamden 18-year-old has been arrested and charged with attacking and robbing a younger teen as he got off the school bus in May, stealing his backpack and sneakers.
Shamont Newton, of Stanley Road in Hamden, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, sixth-degree larceny and conspiracy.
He was released after posting $1,000 bond and is due in court July 30.
Police said Newton was one of at least four teens who followed the 15-year-old victim when he got off the bus. The group attacked him, punching and kicking the boy until he fell to the ground. The older teens then stole his backpack and took the sneakers off his feet, police said.
The victim suffered injuries to his arms, hands and stomach area in the beating, which he told investigators "seemed like forever."
Another suspect in the attack, Jaywon Lacy, 18, also of Hamden, was arrested late last month while riding his bicycle on Dixwell Avenue.
Police are searching for 1-year-old Erica Staggers and 4-year-old Angel Cabrerra, who went missing from New Haven in March and may be with their mother, police said.
Angel and Erica were last seen March 16. Police have issued Silver Alerts for the children and said they could be with their mother, Robin Staggers, also known as Robin Quicksey.
Police described Angel as described as a black male with black hair and brown eyes. He's 4 feet tall and weighs 45 pounds.
Erica is described as a black female with black hair and brown eyes. She stands 3 feet tall and weighs 35 pounds, according to police.
The circumstances of their disappearance are unclear. Police said that usually when people are missing for this long before an alert is issued, they are not in immediate danger.
Anyone with information is urged to call New Haven police at 203-946-6316.
A Naugatuck man accused of a carjacking in Wolcott was arrested in Bristol after residents stopped him from an attempted carjacking there, according to police.
Wolcott Police Department reached out to Bristol police at 10:45 a.m. on Friday to alert them about a carjacking in their town and said the car involved, a black Nissan Rogue, was likely speeding down Route 69 toward Bristol, police said.
Bristol police noticed a vehicle matching the description on North Main Street. The driver, identified as Shawn M. Smith, 24, of Naugatuck, ran from the vehicle, which kept going and crashed into shrubbery at North Main and Curtis streets, police said.
He ran from the scene and went through backyards in the North Main Street area, with police in pursuit, police said.
When he got to Roberts Street, he tried to carjack a resident who was backing his van out of his driveway to go to work, police said.
The van driver and his wife fought Smith off, all while the car was moving, and the wife was able to reach inside the vehicle, hit the brake with her hand and avoid being run over, police said.
Smith was taken into custody on Roberts Street.
The husband and wife who police said stopped Smith received minor injuries, but refused medical attention at the scene.
Smith was charged with unreasonable speed, a stop sign violation, making an improper turn, and evading of responsibility for the motor vehicle accident at North Main and Curtis streets.
He was also charged with criminal attempt to carjack, breach of peace in the second degree, two counts of assault in the third degree and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
He is being held on a total of $2,600 surety bond for those charges and will be arraigned in Bristol Superior Court on Monday.
The Asylum Street off-ramp for I-84 Eastbound in Hartford will shut down and remain that way through the weekend.
It's all so crews can build an exit ramp for CTfastrak, which is the Hartford to New Britain busway.
For those heading to Union Station just off the exit it'll take a bit longer, and taxi drivers say that'll hurt their bottom line.
"It's going to be a pain because we have to pay more money to go around because we come off this exit," said taxi driver Keith Jones.
It's also a pain for anyone wanting to enjoy some live music. Tens of thousands from all over New England are expected to travel to the Festival of Jazz at Bushnell Park, so if you're not familiar with the area, the closure could catch you off guard.
"We didn't know about it," said Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz Vice President Rick Casciano. "The city kind of didn't let us know what was going to be open and close, so it kind of falls on us."
"I can't imagine them closing that exit," said New Britain Lynette Correa. "I mean I was unaware, so I'm glad that you let me know."
DOT officials say they did something similar a few months back. and it didn't cause significant traffic issues. For a detour they recommend taking the Capitol Avenue exit then go Broad Street, Farmington Avenue, and Asylum Street.
"Just get here and everything will work out," said Casciano.
The goal of the busway, which should be completed by 2015, is to offer commuters a way to bypass traffic on I-84.
To get around the exit closure, take Exit 48B to Capitol Avenue, follow it to Broad Street to Farmington Avenue until you can get back on Asylum.
The exit should reopen by 5 a.m. on Monday.
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The leaders of some of the groups coordinating rallies against undocumented immigrants this weekend are Tea Party backers with histories of colorful, and sometimes controversial, tactics protesting the Obama administration.
Critics of the recent surge in children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and of plans to house them, are protesting nationwide Friday and Saturday, on highway overpasses, in state capitals and at Mexican consulates.
Three groups — the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, Overpasses for America and Make Them Listen — are coordinating the demonstrations, protesting what they call President Barack Obama’s refusal to enforce immigration law.
William Gheen, the president of Americans for Legal Immigration, describes himself as a veteran campaign consultant who has fought illegal immigration for a decade. He says he previously worked for North Carolina's state government as a legislative assistant and on the Senate sergeant-at-arms staff.
More recently, Gheen and his group have attracted attention, and their share of criticism, over the years for their colorful activist tactics and public remarks.
Gheen once organized a campaign urging supporters to send used underwear to Obama and to House Speaker John Boehner, in mocking response to a call by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for new underwear for detained immigrants. He has also said his group decided to call Obama "Dictator Barack Obama."
But critics say that Gheen overstates his group’s influence and that Americans for Legal Immigration is essentially a one-man show.
He has come under fire for the distribution of the donations made to his group. According to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks money in politics, the group has spent $1,904 against Republicans, including South Carolina's Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, in primaries for the 2014 midterm elections and has spent no money campaigning for Republicans or Democrats — at the same time Gheen was taking a $69,379 salary.
Gheen has also been criticized for saying at a rally that Graham was gay and for urging him to come out, ostensibly so his sexual orientation would not be used against him. Graham has long denied suggestions that he is gay.
"We’re hoping to raise awareness about the Obama-inspired illegal immigrant surge at our southern border," Gheen said of the rallies.
He accused Obama of trying to transfer the immigrants to shelters around the country as a means of lessening the chances they might be deported, and he said the undocumented children's age should not affect how they are treated.
“The law applies to everyone, and the law needs to be enforced,” Gheen said. “These children and adults with them should not be housed and transported at taxpayer expense to the interior of the country and dispersed.”
Organizing the protests alongside Americans for Legal Immigration is Overpasses for America, a Tea Party-affiliated group that encourages demonstrators to protest on highway overpasses to capture drivers' attention.
The group's founder, James Neighbors, said that undocumented immigrants should be quarantined because they might have communicable diseases like tuberculosis or hepatitis C, a charge critics say is unfounded.
“People are fired up all over the country about this,” Neighbors said. “They’re tired of seeing America invaded.”
Neighbors is no stranger to protests on overpasses. He previously organized the group Overpasses for Obama’s Impeachment, which encouraged Obama’s critics to take their protest signs to overpasses. He was inspired to form that group, he explained, by the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.
Last year, some of that group’s leadership resigned after accusing him of using money donated to the group for personal use — accusations Neighbors says are lies.
Neighbors said he borrowed money that had been donated specifically for his use while he was in the midst of a workman’s compensation dispute. A former Oklahoma corrections officer, he was injured while protecting a coworker during a fight between inmates, he said.
To critics like Henry Fernandez, a senior fellow at the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress, Neighbors' affiliation with impeachment efforts show how fringe his anti-immigration effort is.
Fernandez said he didn't expect the immigration protests to draw many people in most places.
One of the organizations, Overpasses For America, pushes "this broad range of conspiracy theories, where the government is trying to take the country away and rights away from real Americans, whatever that might be," he said.
And all three are small groups on the fringe, he said.
The owner of a Stamford nightclub that shut its doors after a gunman opened fire in the parking lot said he wants people in the city to feel safe.
“All hell broke loose out there,” said Daniel Bibartolomeo, an attorney for Oscar Moreno, who owns Tino’s Nightclub at 84 West Park Place.
Moreno surrendered the club’s liquor license after five people were shot outside the club early Sunday morning.
“I was here the whole entire night,” Moreno said.
Police said 22-year-old Dayron Wills admitted his involvement in the shooting. He was charged with five counts of first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm and possession of marijuana.
According to police, the fight started over a woman. Surveillance footage shows a man in a red shirt, who police have identified as Wills, pulling out a gun and firing into the parking lot. The victims’ injuries were non-life threatening, police said.
Moreno maintains that the club itself was safe, but he’s concerned that Tino’s is now associated with violence.
“When customers who like to go to nightclubs hear on TV that a fight started in a nightclub, people want to stay away,” he said.
Wills’ attorney, Darnel lD. Crosland, says his client acted in self-defense.
“The video is very chilling, and anyone who watches this video who [doesn’t] have the benefits of other angles would tend to think this is reckless,” he explained. “But again, this is a self-defense case and a lot is going to come out in the next couple weeks.”
Regardless of the motive, Moreno said the damage to Tino’s reputation has been done. Stamford Mayor David Martin said Tino’s will likely reopen under a new name, but that violence in the area “will not be tolerated.”
Moreno agrees.
“We want to make sure the people who come to Stamford and our club, they are safe,” Moreno said.
North Texans unhappy about the border crisis are letting their voices be heard at protests Friday and Saturday.
Dozens of people gathered in downtown Dallas to protest Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins' work to bring 2,000 undocumented immigrant children to the county for care, while protesters in Fort Worth took to the street in front of several government agencies on West 7th Street.
Those protests were among 10 planned in North Texas and hundreds being held across the country, as part of a nationwide response to the undocumented immigration surge and what opponents call immigration reform amnesty.
At the Dallas protest, people who support Judge Jenkins' efforts came out to the same block to counter-protest. Supporters of the plan to take in the immigrant children said it’s our human responsibility to care for the children.
Jenkins released a statement in response to the demonstration.
"I am focused on working with our community, faith leaders and federal partners on helping traumatized children in crisis move from detention on the border to compassionate care here," he said. "Leaders can empower grace and mercy or incite fear and anger, but it's the community that responds. Dallas County residents have overwhelmingly chosen compassion."
The protests — launched by Make Them Listen, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC and Overpasses for America — will continue Saturday.
North Texas protest locations, according to Americans for Legal Immigration:
FRIDAY
Dallas: 411 Elm St., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fort Worth: 501 W. 7th St., 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Arlington: Overpass at Davis Street Bridge at I-30, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Corinth: Corner of I-35E and Swisher Road, 7 a.m. to noon
Waxahachie: Cantrell Overpass at I-35, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rockwall: Horizon Road and Highway 30 Overpass, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Fort Worth: Overpass at 2850 Heritage Trace Parkway at I-35 West, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Allen: Highway 75 at Exchange Overpass, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rockwall: Horizon Road and Highway 30 Overpass, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Waxahachie: Cantrell Overpass at I-35, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
A market robber is believed to have accidentally killed his accomplice during a fight with the owner of the El Sereno store they were robbing Friday, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
A 21-year-old man allegedly shot a 35-year-old man at the market at 11:15 a.m., according to police.
"There was an altercation with the store owner, who tried to take the rifle away,'' LAPD officer Nuria Vanegas said.
The man who was shot was wielding a machete, police said.
The men's names were not immediately released.
The store owner was uninjured.
El Sereno is about 8 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Police are investigating after a 25-year-old man was shot on Daivs Drive in Bristol on Friday evening.
According to police, the victim was shot around 5 p.m. during a scuffle that broke out among a small group of men who appeared to know each other.
The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Police said it does not appear to be a random act.
Anyone with information is urged to call Bristol police at 860-584-3011.
