The 7 Star Convenience Store on Stafford Avenue in Bristol will not be open today after a fire last night.
The fire started in back of the convenience store when the store was closed, officials said.
No one was inside when the fire started and there are no injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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There is a two-alarm fire on Route 190 in Somers and part of the street is closed.
The fire is reported at 61 Main Street. The road is closed between the Enfield/Somers line and School Street.
The building is a 3,200 square foot multi-family residence built in 1900, according to the assessor’s database.
No other details were immediately available.
When police searched the Fairfield home of the man found with loaded guns at the University of New Haven campus yesterday, they found a large amount of ammunition and newspaper clippings of mass shootings, West Haven police said this morning.
William Dong, 22, of Fairfield, a commuter student at the University of New Haven, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and has been charged with illegal possession of assault weapon (exception) illegal transport of an assault weapon, breach of peace and illegal possession of a weapon in motor vehicle.
He is being held on $500,000 bond.
Police started investigating when someone called police to report seeing a man carrying a rifle near campus.
“A little after one 1 p.m, West Haven police received a 911 call from a concerned citizen saying they saw a male get out of a vehicle with a long gun in the area by Campbell Avenue and Ruben Street," said West Haven Police Sgt. David Tammaro. The caller told police the man was walking toward campus.
Police said they recovered several rifle magazines from a blue Toyota RAV4 that was parked near the ShopRite and McDonald'sat 1131 Campbell Avenue. That car was towed form the scene on Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities also recovered the rifle Dong was allegedly carrying, but police haven't said where that gun was found.
West Haven police said Dong was taken into custody on campus within 20 minutes of the call coming in. Police said he had two loaded handguns in his possession.
No shots were fired during the incident and no one was hurt, police said.
A student who said she was in biology class with Dong prior to the incident told NBC Connecticut he got up and left during a test and was later arrested near that same classroom building. The class began at 12:15 p.m. and the campus-wide alert went out about 30 minutes later, the student said.
It's not clear what Dong's intentions might have been, but friends have called the incident a "huge misunderstanding" and said Dong was often confused about where he was allowed to carry guns.
"It was a shock," said Thomas Wething, who went to high school with Dong and watched police search his home from across the street. "I was questioning it at first."
Dong's best friend, Manuel Pallares, said Dong carries weapons every day to protect himself while working at an armored truck company that delivers money.
"I'm pretty sure he's not going to go out and shoot people," Pallares said. "He frowns on those people. He hates hearing about gun violence."
On Tuesday evening, West Haven police launched a search of Dong's home on Stratfield Road.
Police left the house around 10 p.m. and said they would return on Wednesday to continue collecting evidence.
Fairfield police said Dong has legal gun permits for two handguns, but they haven't specified whether those are the same guns recovered yesterday.
Fairfield Police say man detained at Univ. of New Haven has legal gun permit pic.twitter.com/ORz3GU9OFK
— George Colli (@GeorgeColli) December 3, 2013
Authorities in West Haven and Fairfield are working to answer the question of why.
"We want to know what his intent was up there because we want to know whether there was an intent here," Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara said.
Dong lives with other family members, according to neighbors, who said they don't know the family personally and that there have never been any issues there.
But MacNamara said police have responded to the home before. He didn't elaborate, but said the previous incidents were not as serious. Police also said they were not looking for any additional suspects.
All afternoon and evening classes at UNH on Tuesday were canceled, according to the university. The lockdown was lifted just before 5:30 p.m.
The nearby ShopRite was also locked down and the manager of the McDonald's earlier reported seeing FBI in the area, searching a car and gathering fingerprints.
Forest Elementary School and Carrigan Intermediate School were given a "shelter in place" order because of the situation, but the modified lockdown was lifted after school officials consulted with police.
Notre Dame High School, which is located near the school, was locked down, then dismissed students with the help of West Haven Police.
Students are being dismissed in an orderly fashion now with the help and security of WH Police. Thanks again to all for thoughts/prayers.
— Notre Dame HSWH (@notredamewh) December 3, 2013
UPDATE: Suspect is in custody, CONTINUE TO SHELTER IN PLACE until further instructions.
— U. of New Haven (@UNH) December 3, 2013
This situation came about a week after a lockdown and massive police presence at Yale University, located just miles away.
In that case, police received a call from someone who reported that his roommate was on his way to the Ivy League school to shoot people. Part of the campus remained on lockdown for about seven hours and no threat was found.
Last month, Central Connecticut State University in New Britain was locked down after a man in a Halloween costume sparked a massive police presence.
Interstate 91 South in New Haven was congested between exits 9 and 7 because of tractor-trailer crash between exits 8 and 7 but the scene is now clear.
The crash involves a truck and two cars.
Only the right lane was getting by earlier.
Generous tippers are leaving a trail of thousands of dollars in gracious gratuity across the country, including Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The mysterious tip droppers dubbed “TipsforJesus” post photos of receipts on Instagram, boasting tips of up to five figures, and claim they are simply “doing the Lord’s work one tip at a time,” the account reads.
“TipsforJesus” has left more than $50,000 in gratuity to servers from Los Angeles’ Hungry Cat to Chicago’s Paris Club and the Boundary Tavern & Grille.
A lucky waiter got a $1,500 tip on a $468 bill at Harris' Steakhouse in San Francisco.
One server at the Paris Club received a $5,000 tip in one of the photos and another Chicago server was given a $3,000 tip at Wicker Park’s Boundary Tavern & Grille.
The recipient of the big tip at The Boundary in Chicago said a group of four men came in and sat down a booth, racking up a total bill of $373.36, she told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The server said she was stunned by the $3,000 tip and noted the group only asked that she keep the name of the man signing the bill anonymous.
The group’s tipping mission has taken them to bars in South Bend, Hollywood venues and, most recently, an Arizona tavern.
Police found a stash of ammunition and newspaper clippings about mass shootings in the padlocked bedroom of the Connecticut student accused of bringing loaded guns to the University of New Haven campus on Tuesday, authorities said.
William Dong, 22, is charged with illegal possession of an assault weapon, breach of peace and other counts after allegedly bringing two handguns and a rifle to the campus, prompting a lockdown and building-by-building search for him.
Police were first alerted after a 911 call reporting a man with a long gun walking toward campus, authorities said.
Officers found Dong on campus about 20 minutes later, with the two handguns. The Bushmaster assault rifle, illegal in Connecticut, was also found, although it was not immediately clear where.
Police also said they recovered several rifle magazines from a blue Toyota RAV4 that was parked near campus.
No shots were fired and no one was hurt, police said.
A student who said she was in a 12:15 p.m. biology class with Dong told NBC Connecticut he got up and left during a test, and the lockdown alert was issued shortly after that.
Dong's friends have called the incident a "huge misunderstanding" and said Dong was often confused about where he was allowed to carry guns.
Manuel Pallares, who described himself as Dong's best friend, said Dong carries weapons every day to protect himself while working at an armored truck company.
"I'm pretty sure he's not going to go out and shoot people," Pallares said. "He frowns on those people. He hates hearing about gun violence."
Fairfield police said Dong had gun permits for two handguns, but they haven't specified whether those are the same guns recovered.
"It was a shock," said Thomas Wething, who went to high school with Dong and watched police search his home from across the street. "I was questioning it at first."
Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara said police have previously responded to the home where Dong lives with family members, but did not elaborate. The other incidents were not as serious, he said.
"We want to know what his intent was up there because we want to know whether there was an intent here," MacNamara said.
Dong was being held on $500,000 bond. His family did not comment in court.
East Hartford police have arrested a man on parolee accused of dealing drugs inside a local VFW and a rooming house next door.
Police put Charles Miller, 32, of Manchester under surveillance last month after receiving a tip and said they found him going back and forth between the VFW at 1268 Main Street in East Hartford and a rooming house next door at 1254 Main Street, police said.
They believe he was dealing heroin and crack cocaine.
Miller was not a member of the VFW, police said,
The private club allow guests inside and there is no evidence that VFW members were buying drugs, according to police.
Miller was charged with operating drug factory, possession with intent to sell narcotics, possession of narcotics in school zone,
When police took Miller into custody, they found him with more than $4,000 and 42 baggies of drugs.
Authorities said Miller is on parole for federal charges. Those charges were not immediately available.
New Haven, Conn., detectives are continuing their investigation into the sudden death of a Yale professor who was being held in a cell at the Union Avenue Detention Facility.
Police said Samuel See, 34, of New Haven, was arrested on the night of Saturday Nov. 23. The next morning, he was found unresponsive in his cell and later pronounced deceased.
Police said See and officers fell during the arrest and See suffered a cut over his eye, but the preliminary autopsy report rules out trauma as a cause of death.
Police went to See's home after receiving a complaint of a domestic dispute at 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 23.
According to police, See's husband, Saunder Ganglani, 32, of New Haven, had gone to See's home to retrieve his belongings despite a protective order that was in place and there was a domestic dispute.
As police investigated, they determined that thee were court orders for both men, prohibiting them from contacting each other.
Ganglani told officers that he’d spent about two and a half hours at the house on Saturday before police responded.
Officers charged Ganglani with violating the protective order and spoke with See, who told police to remove Ganglani from the home, police said.
When police mentioned to See that there was also a protective order for him to stay away from Ganglani, he “became enraged," police said.
He yelled that it was his house, said he shouldn't be arrested and fought with the officers when they tried handcuffing him.
As he was being brought to the cruiser, he yelled "I will kill you. … I will destroy you" to one of the officers, police said.
Last month, police said See had suffered a cut over his eye and police called for EMS to evaluate him, police said.
Today, police said See and officers fell during the arrest.
An ambulance transported See to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was treated.
After being released, he was placed in police custody, taken to the detention facility at 9:10 p.m. and charged with violating a protective order, interfering with Police and threatening in the second degree.
According to police, state marshals said they routinely checked See, who was alone in his cell, throughout the night, spoke with him and made eye contact with him.
6:00 am, on Sunday, November 24th, while making a routine check and delivering breakfast to the detainees, they found Mr. See to be unresponsive. They immediately began CPR and called for Medical Assistance. EMS personnel arrived and pronounced Mr. See deceased at approximately 6:15 am.
Detectives from the New Haven Police Department are investigating the death.
"Mr. Samuel See was delivered to the detention center on Nov. 23 at approximately 9:10 p.m. by New Haven Police and was alert and communicating with Judicial Marshals throughout his detainment until Marshals assigned to the detention center found him non-responsive in his cell at approximately 6 a.m. on Nov. 24. Marshals immediately provided CPR and other lifesaving efforts, until relieved by New Haven Fire and Rescue," Rhonda Stearley-Hebert, program manager of communications for the Connecticut Judicial Branch, said in an e-mailed statement.
Police Chief Dean Esserman has also ordered an Internal Investigation of the circumstances surrounding See's death.
“I am deeply saddened by the death of New Haven Resident and Yale Professor, Samuel See. Most importantly, I offer my sincere and heartfelt condolences to Mr. Sees family and the Yale community, as they deal with the passing of their beloved son, husband and Professor," Esserman said.
"I also apologize for the Police Departments late reporting of the incident, this is not the standard that the New Haven Police Department holds itself to, and we will work to ensure that this does not happen again,” Esserman said.
See was an assistant professor of English and American Studies who was on leave this semester.
"The University community is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Samuel See. Our condolences go out to his family, faculty colleagues, and students, and his friends at Yale and elsewhere," a statement from Yale says.
The school is encouraging anyone at Yale who needs support to reach out to friends in the community or to use university resources that are available for consultation and counseling, including the university chaplain.
Students can seek help from Yale Mental Health and Counseling . Staff can seek help from Magellan Health Services.
A man accused of killing a TSA officer last month in a shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport was ordered to remain in custody without bail and return to court later this month at a federal court hearing Wednesday morning in a Southern California jail.
More Coverage: LAX Shooting | TSA Officer Coroner's Report | Timeline of Events
Paul Anthony Ciancia, 23, was not required to enter a plea during the proceeding at the West Valley Detention Center in San Bernardino County. Bail was denied, as requested by prosecutors, and the judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for Dec. 18 and arraignment for Dec. 26.
Ciancia was represented by a public defender in a room with a capacity of about 15 people. The room is usually used for probation parole hearings and criminal identification lineups.
Ciancia, who appeared with marks on his face and a wrapping around his neck, responded to all questions with "Yes" and "No" answers. Cameras were not allowed in the temporary court room.
Details regarding the wrap, possibly worn because of injuries suffered when he was shot by airport police, were not available.
If he is indicted before Dec. 18, the preliminary hearing date is likely to change. Both upcoming hearings are scheduled to be conducted in United States District Court in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles man faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the Nov. 1 shooting death of TSA officer Gerardo Hernandez. Ciancia allegedly pulled a semiautomatic weapon from a bag at a TSA checkpoint in Terminal 3 at LAX, then shot Hernandez at what investigators described as point-blank range.
Witnesses told investigators that Ciancia began walking away, but returned to fire more rounds at Hernandez when he noticed the 39-year-old father of two was still moving. He then continued firing the weapon inside the terminal at the nation's third-busiest airport before he was shot during a confrontation with airport police, according to the federal complaint.
Ciancia was hospitalized after the shooting, but released into federal custody Nov. 19 and transferred to the detention center about 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
The federal complaint filed against Ciancia alleges that he was targeting TSA officers. He could face the death penalty, if convicted.
Read: Bill Proposes Gun Ban at Airports | TSA Officer Had "Warm Smile"
A second security officer and a teacher from Southern California were also struck by gunfire in the rampage. They have been released from the hospital.
The U.S. Secret Service is searching a home on Schupp Road in Hamden in connection with a currency case.
Hamden police said the search warrant was executed this morning.
They advised that there is no stand-off or risk to the public.
Darien police are reaching out to the public to help solve a 35-year-old cold case murder.
Police are re-examining the murder of Greg Sjolander, a 36-year-old Canadian citizen whose body was found behind an abandoned house at 143 Ledge Road, the present location of BMW of Darien, on the morning of Dec. 4, 1978.
Sjolander, a parolee who had been working as a hairdresser in Montreal, Quebec until April 1978, had been shot two twice at close range, according to police.
On the same morning, three men who were having breakfast at the counter of the nearby Howard Johnson’s Restaurant were overheard discussing a murder, police said.
Two were neat and dressed like workmen, police said. One was tall and thin.
The other was in his late 20s or early 30s and wearing a leather hat. He was seen skillfully drawing on a paper menu and a napkin with a felt pen.
A witness took the drawings and police have released photos of them in an attempt to identify the men.
Little information is known about Sjolander’s activities in the United States, but police said there are at least three independent reports placing him in the Stamford area.
Authorities are now releasing photos of two distinctive tattoos on Sjolander’s arms and additional photos believed to be connected to the case. One reads “Terry my Love.”
“Terry” is believed to be an American-born woman who was living in Montreal during the late 1970s. Police have not identified her.
She has been described as a black or biracial woman with family ties to the New York City area.
The last confirmed sighting of Sjolander was in November 1978 when he left an apartment on Ursula Place in Stamford, police said.
At the time of his death, Sjolander might have been using the alias “Paul Swanson.”
He might have spent some time in New York City and Darien investigators believe that his death is connected with the unsolved murder in June 1978 of Darien native Ronald Poole, who was found shot to death in Dutchess County, New York.
Police said Poole, who was also known as “Slump,” was a member of the Charter Oaks Motorcycle Club and was known to frequent the Ursula Place apartments in Stamford.
The FBI forensic lab processed evidence from the Sjolander homicide in early 1979, long before DNA testing, and some of the evidence is being sent to the FBI Lab in Quantico, Virginia for reanalysis.
Evidence is also being sent to the State Forensic Lab for DNA testing.
Anyone with any information about Sjolander or Poole should contact Detective Sergeant Johnson at 203-662-5330 or jjohnson@darienct.gov.
Route 63 has reopened in Bethany after a car crashed into a telephone pole.
The road was closed at the intersection with Route 42, according to state police.
The accident was minor, but the crash took wires down, police said.
The family of a woman killed in the mass shooting at the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard has filed a lawsuit for more than $37 million against the U.S. Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs and two government subcontractors.
Mary Francis Knight, 51, was killed by civilian contractor Aaron Alexis on Sept. 16.
Her family claims that the Navy's lax security allowed Alexis to enter Building 197 at the Navy Yard with a sawed off shotgun and a hundred rounds of ammunition without any metal detector screening. He opened fire, killing 12 and shooting three others.
They're also suing the subcontractors for hiring Alexis, and the Department of Veterans Affairs for releasing him from a VA hospital where he was treated for psychological issues in Rhode Island.
Alexis was a contractor with The Experts, subcontracted by Hewlett-Packard. Both companies are named in the suit.
Less than six weeks before the shooting, The Experts withdrew Alexis' access to classified material for two days in August when mental health problems became evident, senior U.S. officials said. But the Experts restored his access quickly and never told the Navy about the incident, the officials said.
Hewlett-Packard terminated its contract with The Experts shortly after the shooting.
An administrative claim filed last month -- the first step in filing a lawsuit -- said the family is seeking $37.5 million. A court in Tampa, Fla., where Knight's family lives, is handling the case.
Knight worked as a civilian employee in information technology at the Navy Yard. She lived in Virginia and commuted to D.C. for about five years, and had also worked as an adjunct professor at a community college in Northern Virginia.
She was the mother of two daughters.
"She was a great patriot who loved her country and loved serving the U.S.A.," a family spokesperson told News4 shortly after her death.
New Britain police are investigating a shooting that happened Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Willow and West streets, authorities said.
Police have not identified the victim but said he is a 23-year-old man who left the scene after he was shot and got a ride to the hospital, where he is listed in stable condition.
He was shot outside a multi-family home, according to police. The area is roped off with crime tape.
It's not clear if police have identified a suspect.
Check back for updates.
An $8 gallon of milk? That's what you could be seeing at the supermarket, if Congress doesn't pass a new farm bill soon.
Why the possible jump off the so-called "dairy cliff" and potential price hike? The farm bill from 2008 — which overrode legislation from back in 1949 — is set to expire at the end of the year, CNBC reported.
Without a farm bill, the law would revert to the 64-year-old permanent one, which would require the government to buy dairy products at about twice the market rate. That old law was enacted when the dairy industry was far less efficient and far smaller than it is today, NPR explained.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told NPR that due to the increased price the government would have to pay, dairy producers would be forced to sell to the government in large quantities — causing shortages in stores and ultimately major price hikes.
That would hit Americans' wallets hard.
"In most cases, it's the reason why we've had fairly routine extensions of the farm bill for the past 50 years," he told NPR.
The deadline to extend the 2008 farm bill comes at the end of the year, and according to Chris Galen, senior vice president of communications for the National Milk Producers Federation, "gridlock on Capitol Hill" is why a vote for a new bill is being pushed to the last minute.
"It's very similar to the showdown and shutdown we had in October," he told CNBC.
CNBC reported that if Congress fails to pass a new farm bill, there could be a 9 percent drop in domestic dairy demand, and the dairy export industry could essentially disappear.
Emily Graslie is the resident scientist and "chief curiosity correspondent" at Chicago's Field Museum, but as a woman, she's a minority in her field.
Female scientists are few and far between, and according to Nature, those that do break the barrier aren't treated very well.
But the lack of women in her field is not what irks Graslie the most. It's YouTube commenters.
Graslie publishes videos for the museum on her YouTube channel "The Brain Scoop", and despite the intellectually stimulating content, some of her viewers tend to focus on other things. Like her clothes. And her body. You know, important science stuff.
However, Graslie decided she wasn't going to sit back and take it. During a recent video, Graslie had her director, Michael Aranda, read nasty viewer comments while she discussed sexism and the perils of being a female scientist. Many of these viewers obsessed over her appearance, with one saying she needs "sexier glasses."
"I can't stop looking at her nose," the comment continued. "It looks so weird. It kind of makes her look like a nerdy pig."
Others, however, weren't afraid to get a little more personal.
"Thumbs up for the Skyrim reference," another viewer said. "It made me chortle."
Graslie also said this feedback makes her feel awkward when she hosts guests on her show because viewers assume there's a relationship between her and the guest. One viewer equated such an episode with "lesbian porn" and advocated for Graslie and her two guests to have a three-way. Classy, right?
Graslie said this Internet bullying needs to end and implored her viewers to show support for all content creators.
"We need to make sure we're making it possible for people of all genders to feel acknowledged for their contributions and not feel held back by something as arbitrary as their genetics or appearance," she said.
If you smelled something funny in Enfield on Wednesday, you weren't alone – a mysterious odor wafted through town and some people said it made them feel sick.
"It was definitely a strong odor. I rolled down that window," said Thomas Martini of Enfield, "but it didn't really help much."
Martini was on his was on his way home late last night, driving along Moody Road in Enfield, when a smell like none other came creeping through his car.
He wasn't alone. Officials at the Department of Public Works said others around town smelled the same thing. One employee said she thought she accidentally left groceries in her car until she stepped outside and couldn't escape the smell.
"Living only a mile or two down the road I can almost smell it now coming down. It should be addressed [to] see if it is a health issue or even a safety issue," said Martini.
The source? Three giant piles of organic fertilizer on a farm just off Moody Road that farmer Lee Pinney says are made from bio-solvents.
"It has long lasting capabilities," said Pinney, of the fertilizer. "It'll be good this year. It'll be residue for next year and the year after that."
But the stench was such an issue for some that today the town called in the experts. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Health Department checked out the fertilizer and took air quality samples for testing. The results were not immediately available.
And while the smell around the town has dissipated, there was no missing the scent standing next to the three giant piles of organic fertilizer. Smoke could be seen coming off the warm, pellet-shaped material in the cold weather. It's a smell that permeates everything, even cars.
But Pinney says that by Thursday afternoon the smell should be gone. Starting Wednesday evening and into Thursday, he and others will work to spread the fertilizer. Then they'll harrow it into the ground and hopefully bring an end to the smelly situation on Moody Road.
"Once we disc it in, then that should take care of it," Pinney said.
The remains of a dog that saved a family from a house fire were found Wednesday in the rubble of the burned home, the family said.
The family had believed Nero, a 10-year-old Newfoundland, had escaped from the fire and had asked their Westchester County community for help finding him.
"You have no idea, I feel like I lost a son," Giulio Elieso said. "Without him, I would have lost my wife and my daughter in the fire."
On Nov. 24, Nero woke Maria Eliseo and her daughter Marie, who had been asleep in their Yorktown Heights home, so they could escape from the flames.
The daughter ran through black smoke to get outside, while neighbors brought a ladder to rescue her mother from a second-floor bedroom window.
“If it weren’t for Nero, I would not have gotten out in time,” Marie Eliseo said.
Soon after the blaze was extinguished, the family found their three other dogs -- an English bull dog, a husky, and a Chihuahua mix -- all dead from smoke inhalation.
After more than four months of investigation, 20 people have been arrested in connection with this summer's rioting after a major pro surf contest in Huntington Beach, police said.
The rioting started after a fight broke out July 28 across from the beach where thousands of spectators had gathered for the popular nine-day U.S. Open of Surfing.
The crowd toppled portable toilets, threw items from rooftops and smashed car windows along the popular downtown strip lined with restaurants, bars and surf and skate shops.
Police fired pepper balls and rubber projectiles to break up the melee. Some 250 officers responded to the disturbance.
One person was treated for injuries at a hospital after apparently being hit by a flying bottle and one of the rubber projectiles, police said.
Since then, detectives have collected what they said were "vast amounts of evidence" with the help of tips from the community to identify those responsible.
"To date, we have been able to arrest everyone involved that we have be able to identity," the Huntington Beach Police Department said on its Facebook page.
Authorities have made felony and misdemeanor arrests for possession of stolen property, vandalism, inciting a riot, participating in a riot, assault on a peace officer, vandalism, assault with a deadly weapon and arson.
Others were being investigated for drunken conduct and failure to disperse.
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A reportedly suicidal couple from Massachusetts is facing charges after driving to the Hartford area with their 20-year-old special needs son in tow.
A Massachusetts husband and wife who authorities say were suicidal are facing charges after driving to Hartford with the intention of hurting themselves and their 20-year-old special needs son, according to police.
Mass. State Police alerted the Hartford Police Department after learning that Patrick and Debra Gaffey of Adams, Mass., had headed to Connecticut and “were intent on doing harm to their child,” said Hartford police spokesman Lt. Brian Foley. The couple was apparently suicidal, and Patrick Gaffey was wanted in Massachusetts.
After a citywide search, the Gaffeys were found around 2 p.m. Wednesday near 10 Campfield Avenue in Hartford. They were driving a stolen van and carrying heroin, police said. Their son was still with them and was unharmed.
Both Patrick and Debra Gaffey were taken into police custody.
Patrick Gaffey, 45, was charged with third-degree larceny, possession of narcotics and possession of narcotics within 1500 feet of a school. He was also charged on an outstanding Massachusetts warrant as a fugitive from justice. Police said the charges served by that warrant include breaking and entering a building with the intent to commit a felony, malicious destruction of property and larceny.
The circumstances surrounding Patrick Gaffey’s Massachusetts warrant are unclear.
Debra Gaffey, 41, was charged with possession of narcotics and possession of narcotics within 1500 feet of a school.
The couple’s son was taken to Hartford Hospital for an evaluation and will be transferred to the custody of the Mass. Dept. of Children and Family Services.
