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Newtown Man Sexually Assaulted 11-Year-Old Multiple Times: Report

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A Newtown man imprisoned on a drug conviction is facing new charges for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl repeatedly between February 2013 and December 2014, according to the News-Times.

Peter Filosi, 33, of Newtown, was arrested July 7 and charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of illegal sexual contact with a minor and one count of first-degree unlawful restraint.

The News-Times reports Filosi is serving a six-month prison sentence in Uncasville for an unrelated drug conviction and has been arrested several times in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Filosi's bond was set at $50,000. He has not yet entered a plea and is due in court Aug. 4, according to online court records.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Man Arrested After Crews Find Animal Carcasses in Colchester

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An East Hampton man is facing charges after crews responding to an illegal garbage fire in Colchester found animal carcasses on the property, according to police.

Police arrested James Marino on July 15.

His arrest stems from an open burning investigation on River Road in Colchester, where the fire department responded Wednesday night. Police said firefighters arrived to find a large pile of garbage burning behind a barn.

They also found the remains of several young farm animals, according to police.

Marino was arrested and police contacted other agencies with regards the animal carcasses.



Photo Credit: Colchester Police Department

New Name for Rentschler Field

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Rentschler Field is getting a new name.

The East Hartford facility will now be known as the Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. It will open under its new name Sept. 3, when the University of Connecticut takes on Villanova.

The announcement came Thursday, on the 86th anniversary of the aircraft engine manufacturer's East Hartford groundbreaking.

"Today, we're here to begin the next chapter of our company's history in East Hartford," said Tom Prete, vice president of engineering at Pratt & Whitney. "Our new headquarters and engineering building will be a catalyst to propel Pratt & Whitney into its next 90 years and beyond."

The new stadium will display both the Pratt & Whitney eagle and the UConn Husky.

United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney's parent company, will donate 10 acres to the stadium for parking and will also provide an easement for an additional 15 acres for parking.

UConn President Susan Herbst said the agreement highlights a bond between the two entities that continues to develop whenever a UTC company hires a UConn graduate.

"It was important to UConn that the name have resonance and significance for our community and for the people of the state, and that's what we're to announce today," Herbst said Thursday. "The naming of Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field reflects a genuine and long-established partnership between two great Connecticut institutions."

UTC will have naming rights to the stadium through 2030.



Photo Credit: United Technologies

Obama Vows Thorough Probe Into Chattanooga Shooting

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President Barack Obama offered the condolences of the American people to the families of four Marines who were killed in an attack on two military facilities in Chattanooga Thursday morning, and vowed an "thorough and prompt" investigation.

"My main message right now is obviously the deepest sympathies of the American people to the four marines that have been killed," Obama said Thursday afternoon, hours after a gunman killed four Marines and at a reserve center.

"It is a heartbreaking circumstance for these individuals who have served our country with great valor to be killed in this fashion," Obama said.

"We take all shootings very seriously. Obviously when you have an attack on a U.S. military facility, then we have to make sure that we have all the information necessary to make an assessment in terms of how this attack took place and what further precautions we can take in the future," Obama said.

"I'd ask all Americans to pray for the families who are grief-stricken at this point," Obama said. "And I want everybody to understand that we will be through and prompt in figuring out exactly what happened."

Pratt & Whitney Break Ground on New Headquarters

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 Pratt and Whitney and state officials kept it light-hearted at the groundbreaking of a new 425,000-square-foot facility Thursday afternoon. 

“In some ways I'm gonna miss it to be honest with you,” said Paul Adams, president of Pratt and Whitney. “I kinda like the post-Korean war motif. I think it’s charming, but I am an engineer, and my wife doesn't let me pick out any furniture whatsoever.”

Much of the equipment Connecticut exports to the world is a United Technologies product, and the jet engines among those products are from UTC’s Pratt and Whitney.  Last year the state government allowed UTC to use $400 million in unused research and development tax credits toward the construction of a new headquarters for Pratt and Whitney.

Officials hope the opening of the new facility will keep the company in East Hartford.

“It secures the future,” said Gov. Dannel Malloy, “ the innovation that'll take place in Connecticut as opposed to someplace else.  It secures the future of 75,000 people, not who are directly employed at Pratt and Whitney, but at some portion of the supply chain.”

Many of the old buildings at Pratt are geared for the age of slide rules and drawing boards, not computers.  Some go back to the original East Hartford plant, where ground was broken 86 years ago to the day.  During the ceremonial groundbreaking, Nathan Patch, grandson of Faye Rentschler, wielded the same shovel she did for that ceremony.

Work should begin on the headquarters and engineering facility later this year. It should be ready in 2017.

Who is the Alleged Chattanooga Shooter?

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A shooter killed four Marines before he died on Thursday morning at two military buildings in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but who is this alleged shooter?

U.S. officials identified the guman that unleashed a barrage of fire at a recruiting center and another U.S. military site a few miles apart in Chattanooga, Tennesee, Thursday, at Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeezi.

The 24-year-old is a naturalized U.S. citizen who is believed to have acted alone in the attacks.

Abdulazeezi graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2012 with a bacholor's degree in electrical engineering and was a student intern a few years ago at the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federally owned utility that operates power plants and dams across the South.

A U.S. official said there was no indication Abdulazeez was on the radar of federal law enforcement before the shootings. Federal authorities said they were investigating the possibility it was an act of terrorism, but have no evidence yet that anyone but a lone gunman was involved.



Photo Credit: WRCB

Newington Police Seek Gun Theft Suspect

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Newington police are using facebook to track down a a suspect they say stole a gun from a local business.

Police say the individual pictured above stole a firearm from Hoffman Gun on the Berlin Turnpike sometime on June 30. They are asking the public to help spread the word by sharing the photos on facebook.

Anyone with information can contact Newington police through a private message on facebook, or call Officer Korzinski at 860 594 6219.
 

Norwich Murder Suspect Should Have Been Deported: Report

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A shoreline mother says grief over her daughter's murder is now turning to anger.

The man investigators say killed Casey Chadwick was supposed to be deported from the U.S., but authorities say that never happened. Now Chadwick’s family wants to know why that man was not deported.

Wendy Hartling says she was already dealing with too many emotions in the wake of her daughter's murder. Now, she is add anger and frustration to that list. “I'm dying inside. I'm dying," said Hartling, Chadwick's mother.

Chadwick, 25, was found dead inside her Norwich apartment June 15. Police say Jean Jacques, 40, stabbed her to death. Jacques, a Haitian immigrant, is no stranger to the U.S. legal system. In January, he was released from the corrections center in Montville after serving 17 years for attempted murder. The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered him deported - but it did not happen.

“If they had gone through with what they were supposed to do, then I would still have my daughter here," said Hartling. "If they said they were going to deport him then, why didn't they?”

According to the Norwich Bulletin, ICE officials said Jacques was unable produce identity documents that the Haitian government was requiring before taking the convicted felon back. The deportation process needs cooperation of local law enforcement, corrections agencies and the receiving nation; in this case, Haiti.

“You'd have to know more facts to know if someone dropped the ball or not," said Rita Provatas, an immigration attorney at Provatas & McNamara, LLC based in New London. She said until the specifics of Jacques' current U.S. residency status are known, it is unclear if there were any missteps in the handling of this case.

“Ultimately, it's the federal government's job to process people for immigration purposes," said Provatas.

Several elected officials in Connecticut, including Representative Joe Courtney, are demanding answers from Immigration and Homeland Security officials in Washington, D.C. In a letter made public, Courtney wrote that he is 'deeply troubled' by the developments concerning Jacques.

“Did my daughter have to die for people to have their eyes open?," asked Hartling. "That's what I'd like to know.”
 



Photo Credit: Norwich Police

Marine in Chattanooga Rampage Describes Attack

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One of the Marines who was inside a Chattanooga recruitment center when a gunman unleashed a barrage of gunfire said military training took over after the first gunshot was heard Thursday morning.

"There was the one single shot that alerted us, and about a second or so after that the first volley of fire erupted," Marines Sgt. Robert Dodge told NBC News Thursday night.

Dodge, who served four tours in Iraq and is the father of one son, had only been stationed at the recruiting center for 35 days before alleged gunman Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, fired between 25 and 30 rounds at the storefront around 10:45 a.m.

The four Marines in the recruiting station went into "active shooter" drill after the first gunshot and barricaded themselves in the back of the building, Dodge said. One soldier was shot in the leg. Per policy, soldiers in the recruitment station are not armed.

Had the gunman entered the station, Dodge said "we would have done what every other soldier would have done, we would have taken him out to the best of our ability, or we would have died trying."

The gunman never entered the recruiting station, instead driving off to a Naval/Marine Corps center where he killed four Marines and critically wound a Navy sailor before being killed himself after a shootout with police.



Photo Credit: AP

4 Marines, Gunman Dead in Attack on Military Sites

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The gunman who opened fire on two military centers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Thursday, killing four Marines and critically wounding a Navy sailor, was not in any federal terrorism database and was not under investigation before he carried out the rampage, several officials told NBC News.

Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, was killed after a shootout with police during the assault which began at a Marine recruiting station and ended at a Marine and Naval reserve center seven miles away, where the soldiers were slain, authorities said.It is unclear if the Kuwait-born Abdulazeez was killed by police or if he killed himself.

Federal authorities said they were investigating the possibility it was an act of terrorism, but have no evidence yet that anyone but a lone gunman was involved. Law enforcement officials say there are "indications" it may have been ISIS-inspired, but declined to be specific.

Thursday evening, law enforcement surrounded a home believed to be connected to Abdulazeez, and two females were seen being placed in handcuffs, The Associated Press reported. FBI Special Agent in Charge Edward W. Reinhold said they were not arrested, and it is common practice to secure bystanders when conducting searches.



Photo Credit: WRCB
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Danbury Officer Hurt Chasing Wanted Man

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A Danbury officer was hurt while chasing a wanted man Thursday afternoon, according to police.

It happened when police showed up to arrest William Oboy, 27, of Bethel, at Yankee Peddler and Pawn at 139 Main Street in Danbury around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Police said they had five separate warrants for Oboy's arrest.

Oboy fought off an officer who confronted him, then ran from the store and onto Bank Street. Police watched him drop a black backpack, which they said turned out to contain drugs, knives and a revolver.

Police lost sight of Oboy and set up a perimeter. They caught sight of him a short time later and took him into custody while he was trying to scale a fence, according to police.

An officer suffered non-life threatening injuries during the pursuit. Police said the officer has been treated and released from the hospital.

Oboy was charged with possession of a controlled substance, interfering with an officer, assault on an officer, criminal possession of a firearm, possession of burglary tools and possession of narcotics, along with other offenses from the original five warrants.



Photo Credit: Danbury Police Department

2 Severed Legs, 2 Arms Without Hands Found in New Haven

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Police found not one, but two severed arms in downtown New Haven last night, about a block away from where they uncovered a pair of human legs.

New Haven police said the dismembered arms – both missing hands – were found stuffed in a plastic bag under the Chapel Street bridge, about 6-8 feet below ground level.

Police made the gruesome discovery after someone alerted them to the smell of rotting flesh.

"We're dealing with parts of the arms from the shoulder to where the wrists would be," New Haven police spokesman Officer David Hartman said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Police uncovered the arms hours after another resident spotted two severed legs near the State Street train station. Hartman said Thursday "the legs were about from the knee down."

Although police cannot say for sure whether all four limbs are from the same person, Hartman said Thursday "it would be incredibly coincidental and... incredibly disturbing if they were separate cases."

Authorities guarded the crime scenes overnight and spent five hours searching the area Thursday. Cadaver dogs found nothing new, and Hartman said he doesn't expect the search to continue.

He said police are treating the locations where the limbs were found as "secondary crime scenes" and believe the dismemberment happened elsewhere.

"There's no evidence that we've uncovered yet to support any idea that the limbs were severed where they were found," Hartman said. "So we also have no reason to believe that other body parts will be found necessarily in this area over being found in any other area."

The limbs have been turned over to the state medical examiner's office and will undergo forensic testing, which Hartman said is the only way to identify the person or people to whom they belong. He expects to receive lab results in about a week and a half.

Authorities will then check local and national databases to see if the limbs match anyone reported missing. Already, police have received calls from other departments handling dismembered body cases to investigate a possible link.


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Family of Slain Teen Calls Arrests 'Relief, But Not Victory'

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The family of a New Haven teen slain in 2014 said during a press conference Friday the arrests of three young suspects come as a "relief, but it's not a victory to us" because they know the suspects' families are also suffering.

Two 17-year-old boys and a 22-year-old man – John "Whiteboy" Helwig, of Milford – have been charged in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Torrence "T.J." Gamble.

Gamble, 16, a student at Riverside Academy in New Haven, was shot in the head on Daggett Street the night of April 3, 2014. He died early the next morning at Yale-New Haven Hospital, according to police.

Police took the suspects into custody earlier this week and announced their arrests Friday. Gamble's parents said they were glad to see justice served but felt for the families of the suspects.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of these three boys. We pray that these young men in our community and elsewhere will see that senseless violence and killing must stop," said the victim's adoptive mother, Sheena Gamble-Maybery.

Adrienne Carmen, Gamble's birth mother, implored parents to give their children love and guidance in an effort to thwart crime among young people.

"I miss my baby every day. The sad part about it is that it was kids – children, our kids," she said. "I ask that these fathers grab your sons, teach your sons, love you're sons. They're looking for something and they're not getting it from home. They're out in these streets and these streets are not good for them at all."

All three suspects are held on bond. It's not clear if they have attorneys.



Photo Credit: Family Photo/New Haven Police Department

Hartford Mayor Calls on Governor to Help Combat Violence

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The mayor of Hartford is calling on Gov. Dannel Malloy for help in light of a recent spike of violence in the city that has made it the homicide capital of New England.

Hartford has seen 17 homicides so this year, the highest number in the region. Many remain unsolved, and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra sent a letter to the governor Thursday pleading for more resources.

"The Shooting Task Force originally implemented by the Chief State Attorney's Office has successfully reduced violent crimes during the past five years by responding to shots fired complaints, investigating less lethal gun assaults and pursuing firearm seizures and arrests," Segarra wrote. "Since 2011, the personnel assigned to the City's Shooting Task Force has declined by two thirds."

The mayor called the uptick in crime a "regional issue" not limited to the city itself.

Segarra is asking for three additional investigative detectives from state police, three inspectors from the chief state's attorney's office and to increase the current part-time probation and parole staff to full-time.

City Councilman Kyle Anderson, who chairs Hartford's Quality of Life Public Safety and Housing Committee, supports the move.

"Once the crimes happen, we want to solve them immediately, because we want to get the shooters off the street," said Anderson. "You've got to look how to solve it when it happens, but we also have to look at measures for how we prevent it from happening."

Anderson said the city is relying on help from the public.

"The community has to stand up and say, 'Listen, we want to be part of the solution too. We want to say if I see something, I need to say something,'" Anderson said.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice will train civil unrest marshals from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Hartford Communities that Care Headquarters at 2550 Main Street.

The public is encouraged to attend alongside city leaders, police and pastors.

Milford Youth Center Employee Accused of Assaulting Child

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Police have arrested a New Haven man accused of assaulting a child in his care at a youth center in Milford.

Aaron Virgo, 37, was taken into custody Thursday and charged with third-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor.

Police said he assaulted a child while working at Boys & Girls Village, which provides "behavioral health, educational and permanency planning services for at-risk youth and their families," according to its website.

Dr. Steven M. Kant, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Village, said the facility "took immediate action" by reporting Virgo to the Department of Children and Families after learning of the allegations against him.

Boys & Girls Village also suspended Virgo, then fired him after conducting an investigation of its own. Kant said the center is working with Milford police and DCF and continues to prioritize safety.

"We follow strict security protocol and ongoing staff training to ensure that we remain a statewide leader in providing a safe and stable environment for children under our care," Kant said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Virgo was released on a promise to appear in court and is due before a judge Aug. 11.

He did not answer the door at his home in Milford on Friday. It's not clear if he has an attorney.


Gale Drops Hartford Mayoral Bid to Endorse Bronin

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Luke Bronin, a mainly unknown political quantity several months ago, has picked up a major endorsement in the race for Hartford mayor.

It came from one of his former challengers for the Democratic nomination in the race.

"As of today, I am no longer a candidate for mayor," said John Gale, a Hartford attorney and active member of the city's Democratic Town Committee.

Gale will set his sights on a run for the Hartford City Council instead and provide a boost to the Bronin campaign, which has gained momentum in recent weeks in its effort to unseat incumbent Mayor Pedro Segarra.

“We don’t just need a new mayor, but we need a new culture in city government that puts service to the community above all else," Gale said.

Bronin hugged Gale when he announced his support.

“I could not be more proud than to stand with you today," Bronin said Thursday in front of about 25 supporters on Farmington Avenue in Hartford. “We know Hartford needs a change and we know that if we bring that change and a change in leadership and create a city hall – where you call city hall [and] someone actually picks up the phone – then we will be a city with great days still ahead."

Segarra's campaign manager, Michael Bland, brushed off Gale's endorsement of Bronin.

"He’s entitled to his opinion and he could do what he wants to do," Bland said.

Judge Robert Killian, the third Democrat in the race for the nomination, said Gale and Bronin have been supporting his platforms since the day he entered the race.

"I was the one who opposed the stadium and then they followed," said Killian. "The same thing with taxes."

Killian said he wasn't surprised by the Gale's decision, considering his place in the race.

"I think a wise politician assesses the situation and makes a judgment as to when its time to hold them and when its time to fold them," Killian said.

He pledged to stay in the race.

Bronin, a Rhodes Scholar and a graduate of Yale Law School, served as top legal adviser to Gov. Dannel Malloy until December 2014.

He helped craft the recently passed "Second Chance Society" criminal justice reforms that reduce mandatory penalties for nonviolent offenders.

Bronin also received the backing of Democratic Rep. Angel Arce, of Hartford, two weeks ago.

Malloy Tours Prison; Touts Second Chance

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Gov. Dannel Malloy spent Thursday touring the Hartford Correctional Center, which houses nearly 1,000 inmates, in an effort to market new criminal justice reforms that lawmakers approved during the Special Session.

Malloy's tour fell on the same day President Barack Obama visited Oklahoma and became the first sitting president to tour an active federal prison, touting his own set of criminal justice reforms.

The governor was accompanied Thursday by about 30 people, including Correction Commissioner Scott Semple, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and several correction officers.

Malloy met with a group of about a dozen inmates and said he tried to convey to them the importance of ending the cycle that lands them back in prison.

"In the Second Chance bill, there’s additional dollars for housing, additional dollars for job training, obviously within the budget, there are additional dollars for mental health as well," Malloy said following the tour.

The new law reduces criminal penalties for non-violent offenders with specific provisions for those serving time for minor drug possession without an intent to sell.

"What we’re trying to do in Connecticut is to lead the way to finding better outcomes," Malloy said.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com

Don't Use Laundry Pods in Homes With Kids: Consumer Reports

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Consumer Reports is warning parents that laundry detergent pods should never be used in homes where young children live of visit. 

Over the last several years, Poison Control Centers have fielded an increased number of calls about children eating, inhaling, or getting the laundry detergent serum on their skin.

However, Proctor and Gamble, the maker of the Tide, Gain, and Ariel laundry pods, has said the number of reports involving its pods is falling relative to sales and that most calls resulted in minor to no medical treatment actually, according to "Today."



Photo Credit: AP

New Haven's Ferry Street Bridge to Close Next Week

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New Haven's Ferry Street Bridge will close down for a week while crews complete an electrical upgrade, according to a city spokesman.

The bridge, which crosses the Quinnipiac River, will shut down around 7 a.m. Monday, July 20 and remain closed through Sunday, July 26.

Detours will be in place. Drivers can either take the Grand Avenue Bridge, Forbes Avenue or Route 80 to Interstate 91.


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Outages in Norwalk After Crash Brings Down Wires

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Hundreds of people are without power in Norwalk after a crash brought live wires down across Ward Avenue, according to police and Eversource.

Police said Ward Street is closed between Main Street and Union Avenue while crews make repairs. Eversource workers are heading to the scene.

About 1,200 Eversource customers were without power in Norwalk immediately following the crash, according to the outage map.

That number has now decreased to about 400.



Photo Credit: NBCConnecticut.com
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