Uber is growing in popularity as a taxi service option in Connecticut and on Friday it will be carrying up to five frozen treats to your door or workplace in the state for $25.

People living or working in Fairfield, New Haven or Hartford counties are eligible for the #UberIceCream promotion that's going on in 253 cities, 59 countries and six continents.

On Friday, July 24, enter your location and request "ICE CREAM." Once connected, up to five servings of frozen yogurt will be delivered in minutes to you and your friends, according to a news release about the offer. The service will be available 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Uber is offering new users $20 off on their first ride with the service if they use the promo code ICECREAM2015.

Additional servings can also be purchased.

Capital One is also offering free ice cream to eligible cardholders if you use your Capital One card to pay and enter the promo code SWEETDEAL into the Uber app before completing the entry.

More information is available on Uber's website.

The University of Cincinnati police officer who fatally shot a man after a traffic stop was described in an annual review this year as being "extremely proactive" with traffic enforcement, NBC News reported.

It wasn’t clear whether the comment was meant positively or negatively, though a supervisor also said the officer, Ray Tensing, "only meets the standards when it comes to community service," according to records released by the university.

On Sunday night, Tensing shot and killed motorist Samuel Dubose, who was unarmed and in his car, allegedly after a brief struggle, according to university and city police.

Tensing had pulled Dubose over for a missing front license plate. Moments later, Dubose, 43, had been shot in the head and was dead at the scene, NBC affiliate WLWT reported.

Route 83 is closed in Somers while crews respond to a crash, according to state police.

Police said two cars collided around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday. The road is shut down Bradley Road and Kibbe Grove Road while crews clean up spilled fluid and tow away the involved vehicles.

There has been no word on injuries.

It's not clear how much longer the road will remain closed.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Lindsey Graham won't be receiving any unwanted phone calls for the time being.

A day after Donald Trump implored a campaign crowd to call a phone number belonging to the GOP presidential candidate and South Carolina senator, Graham responded with a tongue-in-cheek video showing him destroying his flip phone.

Graham teamed up with conservative news website Independent Journal Review for the aptly named video "How to Destroy Your Cell Phone With Sen. Lindsey Graham."

The video shows Graham wrecking his phone in a multitude of ways, including with a blender, a sledge hammer, and a toaster oven.

After throwing his phone off a building, Graham faces the camera and says, "Or if all else fails, you can always give your number to The Donald."

"This is for all the veterans," Graham says before a final toss of the phone.  

Trump had given out Graham's phone number during a televised campaign stop in South Carolina Tuesday where the real estate mogul brushed off criticism over comments he made about Sen. John McCain.

"He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured," Trump had said about the former Naval pilot held prisoner for nearly six years during the Vietnam War. 

Graham had called Trump a "jackass" over the McCain remarks. 

McCain, meanwhile, promoted Graham's new video with a tweet that read, "This is why Lindsey Graham hasn't been answering my calls!"

Trump has yet to respond to the video. 

Police are trying to identify the people who shot windows of Colchester homes with paintballs on Tuesday.

Colchester police said a neighbor alerted them to the damage on Usher Swamp Road on Tuesday. It's not clear how many homes were vandalized.

Authorities are trying to identify the people responsible.

Police are asking anyone with information to call the department at 860-537-7270.

Police are searching for the man who they say stole credit cards from cars parked on public property in Wolcott.

Jetlir Krasniqi is accused of breaking into vehicles on Munson Road and near the Wolfs Hill Walking Trail off Wolf Hill Road. Police said he stole credit cards from inside the cars.

He's wanted on three arrest warrants charging him with larceny and fraudulent use of credit cards.

Police are asking anyone with information on his whereabouts to call the Wolcott Police Department at 203-879-1414. Calls will remain confidential.

The three Democrats vying for the party's nomination to run for Hartford mayor are jockeying over the final days ahead of the Democratic Town Committee's meeting next Monday night.

Mayor Pedro Segarra, in the final year of his term, says he's not banking on the DTC to provide him a boost heading into the September primary election. He says he's going to depend on support he's built through working neighborhoods.

"I am asking for support, but at the same time that I am asking for support, I will not revert to the same machine style politics that people have played in order to get support," he said.

Segarra declined to expand on what he meant by "machine-style" politics.

It's safe to assume however, that the criticism was a dig at Luke Bronin, the former legal adviser to Gov. Dannel Malloy who has picked up momentum for the past several months with unprecedented fundraising for the city's top job.

"Remember, before I became mayor there were incidents that happen where people got into a lot of trouble by playing those kinds of games and I’m not going to revert to that," Segarra said.

Bronin, for his part, said he's not sure what Segarra is talking about. It's widely believed in city Democratic circles that Bronin will secure the DTC nomination next week.

"I don’t think I could be any farther from machine politics," Bronin said.

He added that it's Segarra's weak support that has his campaign in its current position.

"I think the reason we’re even competing for the Democratic Town Committee endorsement just like we’re gaining support among voters is because Hartford needs a change," Bronin said.

The dark-horse candidate in the race is former probate judge Robert Killian. He takes credit for the campaigns discussing issues during debates that's he's brought to light over the past 12 weeks.

"No one was talking about being opposed to a baseball stadium. No one was talking about PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). No one was talking about issues like the absolutely murderous mill rate that we have in the city of Hartford," Killian said during an interview Wednesday.

Killian said he, like the mayor, is focusing all his attention on the primary. He said his experience working directly with Hartford residents is what will drive him toward the nomination.

"I think the fact that I’ve had not just a media contact with people, but an eyeball-to-eyeball, hand-to-hand contact with people makes a significant difference," Killian said.

Then, with a nod toward the Bronin campaign, Killian remarked about how he could meet with people he actually knows in Hartford.

"Door knocking is a poor substitute for having sat with people and discussed crucial issues in their life and resolved as best you can those issues for them and with them," Killian said.

Bronin admitted Wednesday that door knocking has been his primary strategy but he stands by the campaign as a way to meet with voters.

"Look, I’ve knocked on over 3,000 doors so far and I could tell you that there’s a lot of support out there for new energy and strong leadership inside city hall and there’s a deep desire for change," Bronin said.

The pilots of five flights over the New York City metropolitan area say lasers were shone at their planes overnight. 

The Federal Aviation Administration says laser beams were aimed at flights between 9:25 p.m. Tuesday and 12:10 a.m. Wednesday.

The FAA says two of the planes were hit by lasers within 20 miles of Newark Liberty International Airport.

Two other planes were near Warwick, New York, when they were hit. The fifth was 20 miles southwest of LaGuardia Airport.

No injuries were reported.

Lasers can distract or temporarily blind pilots. Pointing one at a plane is a federal crime.

A dog found seriously hurt on the side of Interstate 95 in Bridgeport two months ago has recovered well and is ready to go home.

The problem is the veterinary center treating him doesn't know where "home" is.

"Staffie," a 2-year-old pit bull mix, suffered a broken pelvis when he was hit by at least one car on the side of the highway in May.

It has been a difficult road for Staffie over the last two month.

"He got hit by that car and had multiple pelvic fractures," said Dr. Anthony Acquaviva, a surgeon at the VCA Shoreline Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Shelton. "He also had some nerve damage as well. He was in rough shape when he first got here."

A GoFundMe page set up to pay for Staffie's extensive – and expensive – procedures has raised more than $10,000. He has also been neutered since arriving at the clinic.

"He's doing fantastic," said Acquaviva. "He's been a trooper through all of this."

Now, it seems Staffie has bounced back. He's ready to leave the veterinary hospital, but has nowhere to go.

Staffie had no collar, tags or a microchip when he was hurt. No one has claimed him in the two months since.

"The best that I could hope for is that he continues to be happy and that he finds a good home that's going to love him as much as we have," said Acquaviva.

If you recognize Staffie or want to adopt or foster him, contact VCA Shoreline by email only.

For more information about pet adoption at the clinic, visit www.VCAspecialtyvets.com.

A Middletown man charged with kidnapping, stalking and attacking his ex-girlfriend and stealing her car last Tuesday is being held on $1 million bond.

The 18-year-old victim first called police just after midnight July 14 to report that Aaron Marquise Davis, 22, of Middletown, violated a restraining order by showing up outside the house she was at and punching her.

An hour later, police again met with the victim, who they said was bleeding and covered in bruises. She told officers Davis had attacked her again.

Davis had initially called her to discuss a small amount of money she owed him, according to police. He was standing outside waiting when the victim's friend left the house to go meet him.

Police said Davis grabbed his former girlfriend and tried to force her to leave with him, but she was able to break free from his grasp. Davis then punched the woman and knocked her down before eventually leaving.

At 2:15 a.m. on July 14, police received the report of a woman screaming for help near Johnson and Stack streets as a man was chasing and hitting her. Officers arrived and found the same victim.

Police said her face, arms and eye were bruised, her lips and legs were bleeding, and she had road burns down the side of her leg. Police said there were also red marks on her neck.

The woman told police she had been sitting in a car on Grove Street when her friend went into the house to get something and Davis again appeared out of nowhere. He jumped into the driver's seat and sped off as the woman tried to get out and get away from him, according to police.

The woman said Davis held onto her sweatshirt while she was hanging out the door of the moving car. She finally managed to break free and landed on the pavement. Davis then turned around and tried to get her back inside the car, but she ran until he caught up with her on Grove Street and punched her in the face, police said.

Davis abandoned the car in the road, according to police. He left with the keys, then tossed them in a nearby park.

Police said the victim was taken to the hospital for treatment. Davis was gone. He ran when he saw emergency lights, and police later learned he had called friends to drive him home.

As the search for Davis continued, an officer stopped the car Davis was riding in on Tuttle Road, but he got out and ran, according to police.

Then, around 5 a.m., Davis allegedly broke into the house of his ex-girlfriend's mother. One of the victim's siblings told police Davis had gotten in through a kitchen window and stole an iPhone.

Police met with the victim's mother around 8:20 a.m. She told them Davis had called her house and threatened her.

Investigators continued to search for Davis for the next several days.

On Tuesday, June 21, police received a tip that Davis may have been hiding out in a Meriden apartment. Police found him there with the victim, who they said was not hurt and appeared to be there of her own free will.

Davis has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, first-degree stalking, first-degree burglary, carjacking, criminal violation of a protective order, third-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree unlawful restraint, second-degree larceny and interfering with an officer.

He was held in lieu of $650,000 bond and appeared in court on Wednesday. He is due back in court on Aug. 25. It's not clear if Davis has an attorney.

A large fire at a northern New Jersey warehouse Wednesday morning sent thick black smoke into the sky for hours.

According to NBC New York, the inferno in North Brunswick started just before 2 a.m. and firefighters were still battling the blaze Wednesday afternoon.

The fire was so intense, smoke billowed thousands of feet into the air. Helicopter footage showed the smoke plume drifting for miles to the southeast.

But it wasn’t just people on the ground or in helicopters that saw the smoke.

Several weather radars picked up on the smoke particles, including the one closest to the fire, which is positioned to the south in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

Atmospheric conditions must be supportive and the fire must produce enough smoke in order for weather radar to see it. It turns out that winds weren’t too strong but were blowing just enough from the northwest to push the smoke downstream.

Given that the fire occurred at night and skies were clear, an inversion was present. That means conditions were not favorable for air parcels to rise. However, given the temperature and intensity of the fire, enough of the smoke plume was able to rise into the sky.

The lowest scan on the radar out of Mount Holly goes over North Brunswick 2,500 feet above the ground. Many radar scans picked up on what was going on during the early morning hours of Wednesday.

Other weather observing equipment showed the smoke, too. Visible satellite images in the hours following sunrise revealed the longevity of the smoke plume. It traveled as far south as the waters off the Delmarva Peninsula, hundreds of miles from the source.

It’s not uncommon for weather radar to show returns that are not associated with precipitation. Insects, dust and birds are other things that show up from time to time.

Dual polarization technology allows meteorologists the analyze targets and determine if the returns are of meteorological origin or not.

In the case of smoke, the radar indicates it is looking at something very dissimilar to another target nearby. That makes sense, since particles in the smoke plume take on different shapes and sizes.

Gov. Dannel Malloy and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra helped with a groundbreaking for 72 new loft apartments off Wyllys Street and Charter Oak Avenue on Wednesday.

The new Capewell Lofts received roughly $8 million in state assistance and will also qualify for state and federal historical grants.

"This is a big, big deal for Hartford," said Segarra.

The new lofts are located in downtown Hartford, a city that has seen 18 homicides already in 2015, which is on pace with last year's overall total of 19 homicides.

Despite issues the city has been facing, which have included meetings with state officials, the mayor is confident people will lease apartments here.

He said between the Capewell building and a new building on Allyn Street, there will be activity in both locations.

"Allyn Street is fully rented and I feel that these lofts here, which are very geographically placed in a very nice place, will also be fully rented as well," Segarra said.

Malloy said he's made it a point during his administration to invest in housing because he views it as a way to redevelop parts of communities that need assistance.

"This is a strategy I used in Stamford over a 14-year period of time and I’ll stand by that work," he said. "I think it’ll work in Hartford. I think it’ll work in New Haven. I think it’ll work in Bridgeport."

Malloy added that he's done more for housing investment than some of his predecessors.

"My administration has now spent more money on housing four and a half years than the prior three administrations over a period of 20 years, and what we’re seeing is that beginning to pay off in New Haven, in Hartford, in Stamford and elsewhere," Malloy said.

The Capewell Lofts are slated to open by the end of 2016.

The actions of the Texas trooper seen in a dashcam video ordering Sandra Bland out of her car during a routine traffic stop last week appear to be legal — but the officer could have deescalated the situation, legal experts told NBC News Wednesday.

"He was permitted to use reasonable force to get her out of the car," professor of law at the UC Davis School of Law and a former prosecutor Gabriel Chin said, but added that the situation could have been handled differently.

Eugene O'Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said that even if Bland was disrespectful, police officers are trained to not take abuse personally. In the video, Encinia appears to lose his temper.

Bland, 28, who was arrested after the July 10, would be found dead of an apparent suicide in her cell at the Waller County Jail three days later. 

The U.S. formally requested the extradition Wednesday of Trinidad and Tobago lawmaker Jack Warner, the former FIFA vice president at the center of the world soccer corruption scandal, the country's attorney general said. 

"The process is now for me to examine the documentation and consider the evidence and decide whether to issue the authority to proceed," Attorney General Garvin Nicholas said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The U.S. said it would seek Warner's extradition on charges of racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. 

After 22 years in business, an institutional Manhattan dive bar is making its last call sooner than expected.

Skyrocketing rent is forcing Hogs and Heifers in the Meatpacking District to shut its doors August 23. Owner Michelle Dell said she can't afford to make the jump from $14,000 a month to $65,000.

"At the end of the day the neighborhood has changed," Dell said.

The bar, which became an attraction for its bartop-dancing employees and its collection of bras donated by patrons, served as inspiration for the 2000 movie "Coyote Ugly." 

In 2013, real estate developer Thor Equities purchased the building on the corner of 13th and Washington Street for $96 million, Dell said. When Hogs and Heifers’ term of lease expired in June 2014, so did their welcome on Washington Street.

"The reality of being able to manage a 950-square foot gin mill that still sells beer for $5 and a shot for $6 or $7, it’s not doable in such a small space at such a high rent,” Dell said.

Dell said 19 employees, some who have worked there more than 10 years, will lose their jobs.

Longtime patron Jim Pace said, "It hurts because this place is my family, and all these people are going to be losing their jobs. And just because some little boutique is going to go in there? There’s no reason for it. No reason except greed."

Dell will be forced to vacate the premises by September 1, leaving behind 22 years of New York history.

"If it wasn’t for this place, none of this would be here," Pace said, gesturing toward the surrounding shops. "This place was here when this neighborhood was nothing. This place pretty much cleaned it up and enabled all these businesses to come in."

A Las Vegas location of the bar remains open. 

An email request for comment to Thor Equities was not immediately returned. 

Police are searching for the man who broke into a Hamden business, stole two computers and defecated on a rug.

Authorities said the intruder got in through a window on July 18.

The owners of Venusa at 57 Dudley Street told police the criminal got away with several items from the business, including two HP computers.

Police said the man also defecated on a rug inside the business.

He left behind footprints on an outside door, indicating he might have tried to kick it open.

Surveillance cameras captured footage of the suspect, who appears to be thin with dark hair and was wearing a red T-shirt with a design on the front, black pants and white sneakers with black on the tops.

Authorities are asking anyone with information to call Hamden police at 203-230-4000.

A Waterford man was arrested Wednesday after his 4-year-old son wandered away from home and told police his father was sleeping and wouldn't wake up.

Police said the young boy walked nearly three quarters of a mile from his father's house on Ridgewood Avenue in Waterford to the 900 block of Ocean Avenue in New London, where he was found wandering around 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The child told police he could not wake his father, who was asleep at home. Police later identified the father as 28-year-old Phillip Rahilly.

Officers called the boy's mother, who was at work in Rhode Island, and asked her to come pick him up. The mother said her son was supposed to be at his father's house in Waterford.

While they were waiting, Rahilly showed up looking for the boy.

Rahilly told officers he had been driving around for 20 minutes searching for the child. He claimed the boy had walked out while he was in the shower, but police said Rahilly's appearance "did not reflect the fact that he had showered recently."

Rahilly was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a minor. He was held on $75,000 bond.

Police said the Department of Children and Families is also involved in the investigation.

It's not clear if Rahilly has an attorney.

Hartford police took to the streets Wednesday night to combat a problem that persists in city communities.

NBC Connecticut was the only station to join police during the vice detail. Officers went undercover as prostitutes and attempted to bring in and arrest potential customers.

Authorities say prostitution is a crime motivated by drugs and addiction.

"It's a cycle of working to get the money and then using the money to buy the drugs, getting high, coming down off of that, and then going back to work to get high," said Hartford Police Lt. Brandon O'Brien.

Police say the arrests are a temporary fix, but it's one that gives those charged a chance to get help and break the cycle.

"When we do make an arrest in these situations, they get referred to our community court, where they will get the social services they need and will get some direction, positive direction, where they need to go," said Deputy Chief Brian Foley.

Authorities set up and staked out the area as undercover officers went to work. Soon enough, police found what they were waiting for and moved in to make their arrests.

The operation came about after a request from State Rep. Angel Arce to send a clear message for those engaged in prostitution.

"We don't want that in our city. We want that out of our city," said Arce, a Democrat from Hartford.

For police, it's even bigger than that. The work done during the operation can lead to solving violent crimes.

"Rarely do we do any of these operations where they're not in the area of a recent homicide. Every person we bring in, we will debrief and try to find out any information we can on recent shootings, homicides, robberies, burglaries, anything," said Foley. "I can think of a few homicides in recent years that we've gotten valuable information to move forward with an arrest through one of these prostitution details."

While the manhunt for the infamous drug lord continues, an "El Chapo" piñata has been spotted, NBC News reported.

A piñata depicting Joaquin Guzman, known as "El Chapo", was seen outside a workshop in Reynosa, Mexico on July 21. The drug lord escaped from a top security prison—for the second time—through a tunnel built into his cell earlier this month. 

Dalton Ramirez, the piñata maker, said he likes to design pinatas with social or controversial themes. The crafter even made a depiction of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The piñatas are crafted with every detail— including what "El Chapo" would have in his pockets like a toy gun and toy grenade. The workers were sure to study Guzman's features on the Internet before crafting the piñata.

The drug kingpin may be on the run, but at least he will be visiting a few parties.