West Haven police are looking for a driver who crashed a car into a building in town, according to West Haven Mayor Edward O'Brien.
The car crashed into an empty building near the corner of Greta and Spring streets in West Haven and the driver fled the scene, the mayor said.
Route 83 is closed in Somers due to a one-car crash.
A car crashed into a utility pole near the Route 190 intersection. State police responded.
The road will remain closed until the damaged pole can be cleared from the roadway.
No further details were immediately available.
Lisa Heavner knows that she has big shoes to fill when she takes over as Simsbury’s First Selectman next month.
“I’ve known Mary (Glassman) for six years and everyone loves her,” she said during an interview Tuesday.
Heavner was nominated by the Democratic Town Committee to replace Glassman after she announced her resignation last week.
Two weeks ago, the Republican-controlled Board of Selectmen voted to cut the First Selectman’s salary from $113,000 to $75,000 due to changes in the job’s responsibilities.
Glassman announced her resignation the next week which led to an outpouring of support for Glassman and an enraged town who’d grown to appreciate Glassman during her sixteen years of service to the town.
"The harm that you have wrought is beyond my comprehension,” one resident said during a packed
Board of Selectmen meeting at the Simsbury public library last night.
During that meeting the board acknowledged the resignation of Glassman and approved Heavner as the next First Selectman, to begin her term next month.
The board also reversed its decision to cut the pay of the First Selectman which mean Heavner will earn the same $113,000 during her year on the job.
Heavner says her main job is to rebuild the relationship that town government has with residents.
“Priority number one is rebuilding trust with the people of this town” Heavner said. She added that she doesn’t have any concerns that the board may try a similar move while she’s in office to cut her salary.
"My job is to continue doing the town's business. That's what we were elected to do. That's what my colleagues were elected to do and that's what we will do."
Hartford's mayor is speaking out about ongoing problems at the city's fire department, from an altercation and arrests to reported equipment shortages before the death of a firefighter in the line of duty.
"I am not happy with firefighters at any level having altercations in front of a working fire. It's not acceptable," Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra said in response to a fight last weekend between two lieutenants at a fire scene.
And that's not the only thing bothering Segarra about the city's fire department.
"I'm not happy that we have to get into all these different areas of emails back and forth," Segarra said referring to fallout from a decision to put a department inquiry into the October line-of-duty death of Kevin Bell on hold.
Turmoill has surfaced in the department since Hartford firefighter Kevin Bell died in the line of duty.
"I know that that's very difficult for the department and that particular fire house but I want to make sure that at the same time that we investigate this that we also work with the different partners in making sure that we provide support to firefighters and others," Segarra said. "Does that mean that we allow fights to go on? No."
There have also been two firefighters arrested and another was forced to resign after repeatedly being accused of drinking on the job.
Adding to the frustration, a memo, uncovered by the Troubleshooters, was sent to Chief Carlos Huertas days before Bell was killed indicating possible equipment problems at Engine 16 where Bell served.
And on Monday night, the Troubleshooters exposed an email exchange between Deputy Chief Dan Nolan and Huertas where Nolan accused the chief of shutting down the department's inquiry into Bell's death until other investigations wrap up while also asking members to act like the inquiry was still going on.
The mayor addressed the decision made by himself and the chief to put the department's inquiry on hold.
"What I think is more appropriate is that the state and folks that are disconnected from the city in terms of any particular bias conduct a full and thorough investigation," Segarra said. "Once all the facts are in, once the report is in, then we can go back and analyze and make sure that we make any and all changes that are required in order to keep our department functioning and our community safe."
After repeated requests for Chief Huertas to answer questions about the investigation into Bell's death and the state of his department, he declined to go on camera but released the following statement.
"While it is protocol to establish a Board of Inquiry when tragic incidents like this occur, there are other on-going investigations that could potentially be compromised," he said in the statement. "I conveyed this to the Board of Inquiry and they were in agreement as their primary role is to review the information once it is gathered."
The state's investigation is expected to take at least six months.
Time magazine's Person of the Year are the Ebola Fighters.
Time's editor Nancy Gibbs announced the pick on NBC's "Today" show on Wednesday and revealed multiple versions of the cover — each highlighting a different Ebola fighter. Those featured were Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly, Dr. Jerry Brown, nurse aide and survivor Salome Karwah, MSF volunteer health promoter Ella Watson-Stryker, and ambulance team supervisor and survivor Foday Galla.
Gibbs said the magazine selected the Ebola Fighters "because this was the worst outbreak in history and while officials were in denial and very slow to respond these men and women did a hard and dangerous work of treating patients and protecting the rest of us."
Brantly, medical missions adviser for Samaritan's Purse and the first American to contract the virus, said on "Today" that being included was "just a huge honor."
"It’s fitting that we acknowledge that most Ebola fighters and certainly those who paid the highest price for their service are themselves West Africans," he said.
As the disease continues to ravage West Africa the doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and first responders have been on the front lines working to stop the epidemic from spreading further.
"This is not simply a historic event that we’re looking back on, but its’ still happening right now," Brantly said. "Ebola fighters are not just people who did something brave and courageous, they are still in the trenches fighting that war as we speak."
"Today" viewers shared Time’s opinion, voting for the Ebola caregivers by a large margin via “likes” on "Today's" Facebook page.
Last year Pope Francis was named Time's Person of the Year for shifting the message of the Catholic Church from one of doctrine to that of service, making it the third time a Pope was featured on the list.
Before announcing the 2014 Person of the Year Gibbs revealed its final eight contenders on Monday. The list included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Taylor Swift, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Ferguson protesters.
The top pick goes to the person or a group who, according to Time editors, has had the biggest impact on the news this year, in a positive or in a negative way.
Past recipients have included President Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008, Mark Zuckerberg, Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, and "You."
Firefighters discovered a man’s body in a pickup while battling a garage fire in Thomaston on Tuesday and police are now trying to figure out who he is and how he died.
Firefighters responded to the area of 274 and 280 Prospect Street and extinguished the flames at a garage, then noticed a pickup with a man's body inside, Thomaston Fire Chief James O'Neil said.
At 9:20 a.m., police were called in and began their investigation.
The truck had crashed through the bay door of the garage, Thomaston Police Chief James Campbell said, and it appears the crash was accidentally.
"At this point, it looks like the vehicle drove through the front door of the garage, entered the garage, and drove through the south wall and at some point caught fire," Campbell said.
The driver died of fire-related injuries, authorities said. They have not released his age or name.
"We do know the owner of the vehicle. We do know the owners of the properties, the adjacent properties, but I can't give you a positive identification of the victim at this time," said Campbell.
Authorities said no one else was on the property when firefighters arrived and the houses nearby appear to be abandoned.
For 12 hours, crews remained at the scene and emergency vehicles blocked part of Prospect Street in Thomaston, but the vehicle was hauled away late in the night, as investigators, including the state fire marshal's office continued putting the pieces together.
Authorities are now working to determine what led up to the crash and if the impact, fire or something else led the man’s death.
Plymouth and Watertown firefighters also responded to assist the Thomaston Fire Department.
Work began Wednesday on a multi-million dollar residential and retail development in New Haven.
The 3.1 acre property at 1040 -1070 State Street in New Haven will become the new home of 232 loft-style apartments, said developers, who were at the site for a ceremonial ground breaking.
“It'll be three to six stories tall, and inside that project will be a 300 car parking garage as well. It's designed so that it's really part of the neighborhood,” said Andrew Montelli with Post Road Residential Inc.
The existing brick building on the corner of State, Mechanic, and Lawrence Streets will be renovated into 4,000 square feet of ground floor retail space with three residential units on the second floor.
The project site is in the Orange Street Historic District, and developers and architects worked with the community to figure out how to design the space.
“To be able to have a project that's mixed-use, we're you'll have an active site on the first floor, something that people will enjoy walking next to, and then residential on the top, I think will be a real benefit to the neighborhood,” said Jessica Holmes, who is the alder for Ward 9.
The new market-rate apartments will also help New Haven’s housing needs. Currently, there is a low vacancy rate.
“We need residential housing in New Haven, and I think it will help to reduce the cost of residential housing in our City if we have more of it,” said New Haven Mayor Toni Harp.
Part of Governor Street in East Hartford was closed for a while on Wednesday morning after wires came down.
This happened in the area of 326 Governor Street, behind Hoffman Ford.
Repairs were made and the road has reopened.
Families of three women who were shot to death inside a Manchester apartment last year are filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Dye House Apartments and the Simon Konover Company.
Brittany Mills, 28, Kemesha Mills, 23, both of Manchester, and Artara Benson, 47, of Vauxhall, New Jersey, were shot and killed inside an apartment at the Dye House Complex on Dec. 7, 2013.
When police arrived at the complex that night to investigate reports of gunshots being fired, they found John Lynn carrying a 13-month-old child, police said. http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Manchester-Police--234925491.html
After a brief confrontation, he placed the child on the ground and shot and killed himself.
Soon after, police said they were not searching for the shooter because the person was deceased.
The $10 million lawsuit being filed claims Lynn was an unauthorized resident of the Dye House Apartments and the Simon Konover Company knowingly allowed him to live there, despite his extensive criminal history.
PC manufacturer Lenovo has recalled more than half a million laptop power cords because they can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards, according to the Consumer Product and Safety Commission.
About 500,000 cords in the U.S. and about 44,000 cords in Canada are being recalled market by the Chinese firm.
The recall involves Lenovo's LS-15 AC power cords included with IdeaPad brand B-, G-, S-, U-, V- and Z-series laptop computers and Lenovo brand B-, G- and V-series laptops.
They cords were manufactured from February 2011 to December 2011.
The recall comes after reports of 15 incidents involving overheating, sparking, melting and burning. No injuries have been reported.
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled power cords and contact Lenovo for a replacement free of charge. The laptops can continue to be used on battery power.
Consumers can reach Lenovo at (800) 426-7378 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or online at www.lenovo.com.
The turnout for the general election in November was almost 56 percent, according to the Secretary of the State.
Cornwall had the highest percentage of voters head to the polls, while the city of Hartford had the lowest turnout percentage, with 32.18 percent of registered voters casting ballots.
Secretary of State Denise Merrill released the figures today and said 55.57 percent of registered voters cast ballots on Election Day, Nov. 4.
There were several problems on Election Day in Hartford, where precincts were unprepared for the polls to open at 6 a.m. Election Day, which caused delays and voters milled around in frustration while waiting for registration lists to arrive late from the office of the Registrars of Voters in Hartford.
“Overall we had a very healthy and respectable voter turnout of just about 56% of registered voters in Connecticut,” Merrill said in a statement. “Once again we saw strong voter turnout in our small towns, while the cities continue to lag behind. Election Day problems in Hartford may have had a depressing impact on voter turnout in that city, which is truly unfortunate.”
“One thing I am very proud of is the large number of new voters – nearly 14,000 – who were able to participate in democracy due to Election Day Registration!,” Merrill said. “This was a total success and implemented statewide without any serious problems. This speaks volumes about the preparation undertaken by local election officials to accommodate new crowds of voters across the state. Due to their efforts we were really able to expand the voting franchise in 2014, which is something truly worth celebrating!”
In the General Election, 13,995 new voters cast ballots, making up 1.3 percent of the total votes.
Cheney Technical High School at 791 West Middle Turnpike in Manchester was evacuated “for precautionary reasons” after a bomb threat this morning, but students have been allowed back into the building.
Police said they received a call at 8:20 a.m. after a bomb threat was found written on a wall at the school.
At 8:44 a.m., the building was evacuated and dogs were bought in to check the school at 9:52 a.m.
A school official who did not want to be identified said students are back in school.
Watertown police are looking for a man suspected of using a stolen card at an ATM last month.
The man was seen at CVS on Davis Street on Nov. 21 and used the card at an ATM on Highland Avenue in Waterbury around 4 p.m. on Nov. 21, police said.
The man in the surveillance photo is believed to be in his 30s to 40s and was wearing a Yankees baseball hat.
Anyone with information about who he is should call the Watertown Police Department at 860-945-5216 or Crimestoppers at 860-945-9940.
Police said all calls will be confidential.
Authorities are looking for information only and advise people not to make contact with the subject.
Police are investigating an armed robbery at a Bridgeport grocery store on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said two people robbed Los Primos, at 64 Roosevelt St., just before 1 p.m.
They brandished a weapon, demanded money and fled with cash. No one was hurt and detectives are investigating.
An SUV crashed into the roof of a home in Escondido, California, Wednesday with such force it felt like an earthquake, the homeowner said.
George Strother told NBC 7 his morning started with a bang.
It was 12:23 a.m. when a satellite radio company called Escondido police reporting an airbag deployment inside an SUV on Hubbard Place.
Strother said he and his wife heard a pounding at their door moments later. Police officers were trying to wake the couple to make sure everyone inside the one-story home was okay.
Strother said his wife thought she felt an earthquake but when they both walked into their garage they saw the damage.
“The first thing we saw, the BMW that had come through the roof had landed on the hood of our Pathfinder and had pushed it back into the garage door, which had buckled the door,” Strother said.
Strother, who is a photographer, grabbed his camera and took these images.
Officers jumped on top of the Pathfinder and peered into the BMW SUV to check on the condition of the driver but found no one there.
Using the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department helicopter, law enforcement officers searched homes around the area for any sign of an injured person. No hospitals reported anyone seeking medical care for a vehicle crash.
On top of that, there were no witnesses to the collision.
Police determined the BMW is a rental from the Mossy BMW dealership, and investigators say the man who rented it was found nearby, hiding in some bushes.
The man was arrested on an unrelated charge. Police are trying to determine if he was actually behind the wheel at the time of the crash, for he denies being there.
A building inspector and tow truck driver were called out to begin the cleanup.
The homeowner believes that from the tire marks it appears the driver was heading downhill on Hubbard Avenue when the vehicle went right off the sidewalk, flew through trees and several yards in the air.
The SUV could’ve gone into the kitchen but Strother said he and his wife were never in danger.
“Our bedroom is at the extreme other end of the house so we were way out of range,” Strother said.
“He picked about the best spot.”
Los Angeles police have asked to interview boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. following reports that he may have spoken to Earl Warren Hayes before the rapper killed his wife, then himself.
Detective Scott Masterson said Tuesday that Hayes and actress Stephanie Moseley had recently gotten back together.
The detective says Moseley, who'd appeared on the TV series "Hit the Floor," called relatives last week to say things were going well.
But police said on Monday, Hayes shot her and himself in their Fairfax-area apartment.
Hayes was an acquaintance of the professional boxer.
The bodies of Hayes, 34, and Moseley, 30, were found inside an apartment at the Palazzo complex in the 300 block of Hauser Boulevard and Park La Brea around 7:30 a.m. Monday, police said.
Moseley was Canadian and had moved to Los Angeles from her birthplace of Vancouver in 2004. Moseley's Internet movie database site said she appeared in a comedy, "The Best Thanksgiving Ever," which is due for release in 2015, and appeared throughout 2014 in the VH1 reality series "Hit the Floor."
The couple were married in 2008.
NBC4 Wire Services contributed to this report.
Police arrested a 76-year-old Southington man accused of sexually assaulting a minor in town.
Walter Ronewicz, 76, of Southington, faces a first-degree sexual assault and first-degree risk of injury to a minor charge after the Department of Children and Families received a complaint in June that he sexually assaulted an underage victim in Southington, police said.
Police arrested him on a warrant stemming from investigation into the complaint. Ronewicz cooperated with police as they took him into custody for booking at the police department.
Police held Ronewicz on a $500,000 court-set bond and he is scheduled to appear in Bristol Superior Court on Wednesday.
The arrest warrant has been sealed and no further information was immediately available, police said.
In a lengthy investigation prompted by efforts to curb drug activity in Enfield, police obtained 53 warrants for 27 suspects likely involved in selling drugs in town and brought in 8.
One by one, Enfield police officers suspects into a prisoner transport van outside town hall.
The warrants, mostly for felony charges, stem from a nine-month investigation that began last April into narcotics trafficking in Enfield, particularly the Thomsponville section of town, according to Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza.
They include 64 charges ranging from the sale of narcotics and crack cocaine to assault, burglary, larceny and gun-related charges, Sferrazza said at a press conference Wednesday morning at Enfield Town Hall.
"We are no different than any other community in Hartford County with the plague of heroin in our community and we set out back in April to see what types of investigations we could go forth with to put an end to it," Sferrazza said.
Three of the suspects in custody are Daniel Cosgrove, Craig Bosley, 32, and Luis Gomez, 24, of Maple Street in Enfield. Local police, assisted by ATF and Drug Enforcement Administration officials, spent Wednesday rounding up the rest.
The operation to stomp out drug dealing in Enfield was initially premised on investigations into "outlaw biker gangs at a local establishment in town where drug dealing was allegedly taking place," Sferazza said.
Police have not identified that establishment. While looking into the gang-related drug dealing and reported heroin problems in town, police gathered information about more extensive drug activity in Enfield.
Sferrazza said that the narcotics investigations were not limited to Thompsonville, but the majority of the suspects were active in that area of town.
Police infiltrated drug dealers in Enfield to identify suspects, Sferrazza said. While the police department doesn't believe that rounding up the 27 suspects will completely drive drugs out of town, police do think they have "significantly impacted their ability to do business in town."
"We're not fooling ourselves into believing there's not a drug problem anymore, 'cause I'm sure someone's thinking of taking their place as we speak," Sferrazza said. "What they need to understand is that our commitment to ridding our town of drugs doesn't end with this operation, that we will refocus and we begin as we speak a new investigation. So, anyone that thinks they can make an easy buck here in Enfield by selling drugs, it's going to be our contention that if that's what you're going to do, then we're equally committed to detecting, investigating and seeing that these people are in prison."
Sferrazza characterized the suspects as mid-level drug dealers who often are supplied with drugs from cities. Many of them did not grow up in Enfield and are "transplants," most of whom reside in town, he said.
"These individuals are not predominantly possession of drugs. These are people who are engaged in the active business of selling drugs," Sferrazza said.
The operation required confidentiality and police didn't want to compromise the investigation, so that's why the department is just releasing the information now, he said. The department also arrested several street-level drug dealers over the summer.
"So, althought it may have appeared to the community that the department was no active in drug intervention, the exact opposite was true," Sferrazza said. "We didn't step up our game today. We were in it from day one."
Bosley was wanted on six warrants, including possession of narcotics and possession with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school. Gomez is being charged with third-degree assault and breach of peace in a family violence incident.
The men will not be arraigned Wednesday, but police are holding them in custody on high bonds and expect they will appear in Enfield Superior Court on Thursday.
The department believes the cases are "iron-clad" and "solid," Sferrazza said.
"Unlike roundups where we've arrested people for possession, these are people that are engaged in the practice of actually sale and that elevates it to a felony," he said.
Sferrazza said Enfield police have heard the complaints of residents and that they hear the "plight, the agony and the tragedy" that heroin brings and connected crimes.
"I think it's significant for us and I think we've certainly put a crimp in the drug trade for now, but, like I said, we realize this is an ongoing problem and Enfield's not alone," he said.
Judicial Marshal Michael Connelly, who was charged with promoting prostitution, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and his case is being moved to Litchfield.
His defense attorney, Lenny Crone, said Connelly was arrested while dropping his now-ex-girlfriend off in Waterbury last month and Connelly didn't profit at all from any activity that the woman was engaged in.
Connelly is the brother of the late Waterbury State Attorney John Connelly and the judge wanted the case moved from the city because of the stature of Connelly's late brother there and because Michael Connelly worked in the courthouse there for 30 years.
The decision did not sit well with Crone, who called the change of venue "ridiculous," adding it's not fair to him or his client that the case will now be "an away game."
Crone also said police confiscated his client's blood pressure and heart medications during the arrest.
In addition to the promoting prostitution charge, Connelly was accused recently of shoplifting at a local Stop and Shop and a warrant for his arrest was waiting at the courthouse.
A news release from state police says he was charged with 16 counts of sixth-degree larceny.
The bond for the new charges was set at $5,000 and he posted it for his release today.
Connelly is due back in court on Dec. 23.
Following 18 years with a clean service record, things began to go south for Connelly in 2001 when he was investigated and later found to have viewed pornography on a Waterbury judge’s computer. Following the results of the investigation, Connelly was fired.
A judge later heard the details of the case during arbitration and reinstated Connelly’s employment. In his ruling, the judge wrote that even though there was no doubt that Connelly had used judicial property for personal use to view content like sports and gambling information, the conduct was not illegal, and there was no reason for Connelly to assume that he would have been fired for such conduct.
In other instances, Connelly was investigated for making lewd gestures in an open courtroom and for displaying a picture of a naked woman on his cell phone.
Connelly’s attorney, Lenny Crone, responded to the recent charge against Connelly and the previous issues during an exclusive interview.
“They have nothing to do with Mike’s arrest. Nothing at all. Two totally separate issues.”
Crone said of the current charge against his client that he’s seen no evidence to support the claim.
He said the case itself has only made it into the public arena because of his last name and his brother’s stature in Waterbury and across the state.
“Anytime you’re associated with or related to a well known person you get the benefits of that relationship and you also get what won’t be the benefits, the negative parts of that and I think that’s happening with Mike” Crone said.
Crone described the charge against Connelly as “run of the mill.”
He also said it’s key to remember that a judge ruled in the past that he had not done anything illegal.
Connelly has his first court appearance December 10.
has had multiple run-ins with code of conduct violations, according to documents obtained by NBC Connecticut.
