The Guilford Police Department will be looking for a new chief in the New Year as their current one approaches retirement.
Chief Thomas Terribile is going into retirement after 40 years in the police force, according to Guilford police.
His last day is scheduled for April 1.
Guilford has not hired a replacement at this time and is looking for a new police chief.
An arsonist has struck twice at an Enfield house.
Wednesday morning's blaze has neighbors concerned that the person(s) setting them will start targeting occupied homes after a rash of suspected arson incidents at vacant buildings.
On Wednesday, a fire was set at 376 Elm Street for the second time.The first time in November, a barn behind the home was burned to the ground. Both are suspected as arson, fire officials said.
Other fires were set in a 300-yard radius of each other.
A pregnant woman who went into labor on a plane taking off from San Francisco forced the emergency landing of the flight Wednesday morning, less than a month after a baby was actually born on a separate flight also out of SFO.
Delta Airlines Flight 2566 left San Francisco International Airport at 6:49 a.m. but made the emergency landing in Salt Lake City at about 9:30 a.m. local time, Salt Lake City airport spokeswoman Barbara Gann told NBC Bay Area. The plane was headed for Minneapolis.
Gann could not provide further details on the woman's condition, saying on that she was pregnant and was taken to the hospital. But a watch commander said it was his understanding that the woman went into labor.
Once the woman was taken off the plane, the flight resumed to Minneapolis. Gann said she didn't know how long the delay took.
On Dec. 9, a Phoenix-bound Southwest Airlines flight that took off from San Francisco had to land in Los Angeles after a woman on board actually delivered a baby on board, with the assistance of a doctor and nurse who just happened to be on board.
Not to be outdone by airplanes, another baby decided to be born on a subway train in Philadelphia on Christmas Day.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Hasbro Inc. says it will replace a Play-Doh toy that looks similar to a penis.
The syringe-like "extruder tool" is part of Play-Doh's Cake Mountain toy. It squeezes modeling compound through a round tube with corkscrew-type ridges around the outside and a dome-shaped top.
Its phallic appearance upset some parents.
An Oklahoma TV station blurred the image of it when it did a piece about the complaints in November. Since Christmas, Play-Doh's Facebook page has received thousands of comments about it, saying it looked like a penis or a sex toy.
Some were upset. Others thought it was funny.
The Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based company says it is replacing the tool in future sets. It also says it will replace it for anyone who already bought one.
Click here to see an image of the controversial Play-Doh "extruder tool."
Vernon police don't suspect foul play in the death of a man whose body was found in a reservoir in town on Wednesday.
James Doer, 59, went missing around 3 p.m in Vernon on Tuesday, police said. Police issued a Silver Alert and began searching for him right away because he has a known history of mental health issues.
Officers discovered his body in the shallow water of Risley Reservoir on Lake Street in Vernon on the morning of New Year's Eve during an extensive search. Police had found a car they believed to be his at the reservoir earlier Wednesday morning.
No foul play is suspected, but police aren't ruling any possibilities out.
State police K9 units searched the deep woods surrounding the water and then focused the search on the water when searchers found some clothing near the shore. A state police diver went into the water and found Doer's body.
Dive teams and boats called to respond and then called off at about 8 a.m. when his body was found.
"We’ve stopped the search and we continue to investigate, at this time we don’t suspect foul play although we have not had a ruling made yet as to how he died," Lt. William Meier, of the Vernon police, said.
The family has been notified and were at the reservoir during the search for most of the morning.
The office of the chief medical examiner will do an autopsy on the body.
The cause of death has not been determined at this time. Detectives continue to investigate.
Hartford Deputy Fire Chief James McLoughlin was reinstated after he was placed on administrative leave in early December.
Hartford Fire Lt. Raul Ortiz, executive officer for external affairs, said Wednesday that McLoughlin "has been put back on full active duty effective immediately."
The city previously declined to comment on the reasoning behind McLoughlin's suspension, which sources said took effect Dec. 10.
McLoughlin was placed on leave close to when Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra announced the creation of a task force to develop a new code of conduct, review resources and protocol and handle the investigation into the line-of-duty death of Firefighter Kevin Bell.
A car crashed into a house in Plainfield on early morning on the day of New Year's Eve.
Frank, 46, of Brooklyn, Connecticut, veered off the road in his 2002 Pontiac Firebird and hit the steps and front door of a house at 573 Norwich Road. Police responded at about 2:19 a.m.
The crash caused serious damage at the home and car, police said.
Abdullovski was transported to the Plainfield Emergency Care Center of William W. Backus Hospital and LifeStar late transported him to Hartford Hospital.
The nature of his injuries and his condition are unknown at this time.
The car was towed from the scene.
Police are still investigating the crash and ask anyone with information to contact 860-564-0804.
State police are conducting increased traffic enforcement for New Year's holiday.
Additional troopers have been on the roads since midnight Dec. 30 at sobriety checkpoints and target areas. As of 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 31, police responded to 87 crashes, including eight with injury.
State police also made 10 driving under the influence arrests and issued 113 tickets for speeding, 10 for seatbelt violations and 237 tickets for hazardous moving violations like following too close or distracted driving and cell phone use.
There are also sobriety checkpoints around the state to combat drinking and driving through the New Year's holiday.
State police ask anyone who suspects seeing a drunken driver on the roads to call 911 to report it.
A former Meriden police officer sentenced to prison time on charges of using unreasonable force against a handcuffed man and lying about it in a report has been released.
Evan Cossette, the son of police Chief Jeffry Cossette, was sentenced in September of 2013 to as much as two years in prison with the possibility of a year of supervised release. Meriden police said Wednesday that he's been released.
Surveillance video played during the trial showed Cossette pushing Pedro Temich into a jail cell in 2010. Temich fell and hit his head on a concrete bench, causing a 12-centimeter gash and knocking Temich unconscious, according to prosecutors.
Cossette testified in court that he didn't intend to injure Temich. He said he thought Temich was about to head-butt him when he pushed him and was surprised he fell.
For the 26th straight New Year's Eve, First Night Hartford serves up fun and festivities fit for families.
"We're looking for a great day," said Nicole Glander," manager for the annual event. "There's lots of performances going on and lots of venues for all ages. We're very excited."
Wristbands and the accompanying commemorative button sell for $12 for adults, $3 for children 3 to 15. Some performances last til 9 pm but the bulk of the events run between 3 and the first fireworks show at 6.
New this year are an aerialist and a magician.
"We have face painting, we have music, we have crafts for kids, we have magic and comedy, all sorts of things," said Glandin.
A judge has rejected a motion to dismiss former Governor John Rowland's convictions for election fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton dismissed Rowland's motion for acquittal Tuesday, saying his lawyers haven't presented enough proof that there wasn't enough evidence for the convictions.
Rowland's next due in court in January.
One by one, with five dollars in hand members of the Cheshire community filed into the R.W. Hines Ace Hardware story Wednesday to by the Cheshire’s Light of Hope luminaries.
On New Year Eve, residents were asked to place them in front of their homes in honor of Isabella Gozzo and Chris Settembri, two lives taken too soon.
“Cheshire is a town that everyone comes together in time of need and the response has just been unbelievable,” said Tom Gaetani with R.W Hines Ace Hardware.
Police say Gozzo, 19, died in a car crash on Route 9 in Berlin on the morning of December 15th. Settembri, also 19, died alongside his father in a murder-suicide at their home on Cornwall Avenue.
“We are all devastated whether we knew them or not,” said Gaetani.
Kelsey Uguccioni knew both of the teenagers from school and from sports teams. She has taken part in Cheshire’s Lights of Hope in the past, but says this connection gives this year a new meaning.
“It’s crazy to think two people in my town have already passed away. It's hard,” said Uguccioni.
As hard as it may be, the candles are meant to bring light to the darkness, and beauty back to a town that has already been through so much.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” said Cherie Hemstock of Cheshire. “Some of the streets are just connected from each luminary to the other and it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
Cheshire’s Lights of Hope is celebrating its 10th year and has raised $600,000 for local charities.
After living for 18 years on a donated kidney, Mitchell Yeoh needs a liver transplant before he can have a kidney transplant, but at number 88 on the liver transplant eligibility list, he could be years away from getting it.
"I would like to write and illustrate children's books, teaching children about life lessons and languages," said the Harvard University freshman, who speaks seven languages including Russian and Chinese, at his family's home in Fairfield.
He was well enough last summer to visit China with the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestra, but this fall he spent more than 60 days at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital.
"It's scary," said his mother, Lisa Yeoh, who donated one of her kidneys to Mitchell when he was born with a kidney disease. Mitchell needs part of the liver of someone with Type O+ blood.
"There was one Good Samaritan donor that came for Mitchell at Yale. Unfortunately his liver was too small," Lisa Yeoh said.
She said a liver transplant now would be a miracle for Mitchell. In fact, that's what she calls her Facebook page: Miracles for Mitchell.
A Connecticut woman charged in the homicide of a 3-week-old baby had been drinking before she dropped the child and possibly fell on her, according to the arrest warrant.
Janell Campbell, 22, of New Britain, was at the home of baby Jaleah Jayde Quintero's family with her son to get money for a cell phone bill and was hanging out with Jaleah's mother and her male friend.
The mother told police that Campbell wanted marijuana and that she left at one point to buy some with her friend, asking Campbell to watch her baby. When the Jaleah's mother and friend returned, she noticed marks on the baby's head and asked what happend, according to the arrest warrant.
Campbell initially blamed her son and said he had knocked the baby's basinett over earlier but that the child hadn't fallen out, according to the arrest warrant. Both the mother and her friend told police they had seen Campbell yell at her son earlier in the evening, police said. She also initially told police she wasn't drunk when the incident happened but that she felt "nice."
But she later told police that she lost her balance because she was drunk while holding Jaleah and dropped her. Campbell also said she thought she fell on the child.
The child was unresponsive and was taken to the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. Doctors called New Britain police on Dec. 5 at 5:24 a.m. to report they were treating a 3-week-old girl in the emergency room who was unconscious and had a suspicious head wound.
Police arrived nine minutes later and learned the baby went into cardiac arrest and had "bruising to the face and head," police said.
A Life Star helicopter transferred the baby to Connecticut Children's Medical Center at 7:37 a.m. that day and the baby went into cardiac arrest for a second time, police said. The baby later died at the hospital.
The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
When police searched the home of Jaleah's mother, they found an empty 24-pack of Miller High Life beer, two empty bottles of Patron tequila and part of a marijuana blunt, police said in the arrest warrant.
Police determined that Campbell's "actions appear to have resulted in the death of the victim."
Campbell was charged with risk of injury to a minor and second-degree manslaughter "for dropping the victim on the floor while she was under the influence of alcohol and failing to obtain medicalaid for the victim," police said in the arrest warrant.
She is in custody on a $250,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in New Britain Superior Court on Jan. 5.
A 37-foot boat went up in flames and sank at the Norwich marina on Wednesday night, according to officials with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The Norwich Fire Department was called out to the marina at 1 American Wharf in Norwich shortly after 7 p.m., where the boat was engulfed in flames.
The DEEP and U.S. Coast Guard also responded to the scene. A spokesperson for the DEEP said some fuel leaked out of the sunken vessel, but it's not clear how much spilled. The DEEP will bring in a contractor to pump remaining fuel from the boat.
No injuries have been reported.
An East Lyme 18-year-old has been arrested after posting a violent threat to a social media site against the town.
Tyler McKenzie, 18, was arrested at 4 p.m. on New Year's Eve, about a week after a concerned citizen called police to report a disturbing comment made on the YikYak social media site, state police said.
"I've been bullied to (sic) long, after break East Lyme better be ready for the hail of bullets," the comment on YikYak said.
Police were alerted about the message at 11:46 p.m. on Dec. 23.
East Lyme police, the FBI and state police detectives from the eastern major crimes district investigated and obtained multiple search and seizure warrants.
East Lyme police, the resident trooper's office in town and the FBI searched McKenzie's home at 49 Cubles Drive in East Lyme and seized criminal evidence. McKenzie admitted to "his involvement in the threatening post" when detectives interviewed him, state police said.
The motive behind the post has not been released at this time.
After obtaining an arrest warrant, investigators charged McKenzie with first-degree threatening and second-degree breach of peace.
His bond was set at $25,000 and he is scheduled to appear in court on Friday, Jan. 2.
Investigators don't anticipate any further arrests and believe that McKenzie acted alone.
A traffic stop turned deadly overnight in South Jersey.
Police officers in Bridgeton, New Jersey opened fire on a 36-year-old passenger of a Jaguar after pulling the vehicle over at South Avenue and Henry Street around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday.
The man, later identified as Jerame Reid, died after being rushed to the hospital.
Police recovered a handgun from the scene and the suspect was apparently armed at the time of the shooting, according to investigators.
The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody for questioning.
Police didn't report any injuries to either officer involved in the shooting.
Investigators revealed few details about what led to the shooting or the initial traffic stop. New Jersey State Police continued to investigate through the early morning hours of Wednesday, marking various shell casings.
A bullet hole was also visible in the windshield of the vehicle.
Tahli Dawkins, who was taking out his recycling at the time of the shooting, told NBC10 he witnessed the incident.
"He had nothing in his hands," Dawkins said. "He had his hands up trying to get out of the car, one on the door was getting out like this and he just started shooting him."
The Cumberland County Prosecutors Office will also look into the deadly incident.
Reid had a three-month-old son, according to his cousin Keesha Springs.
"He was a good kid," Springs said. "He had a troubled past but after that he became a good person. I love my cousin. Everybody has their bad times and he had his bad times. But he was very lovable."
Three people have died in a New Year’s Eve fire that also left a firefighter injured at a Queens high-rise building, according to the FDNY.
The fire started Wednesday just before midnight on 57th Avenue in Elmhurst, the FDNY said.
The four victims were transported to North Shore Forest Hills Hospital, where three of the victims died.
The two-alarm fire was extinguished.
Authorities on Wednesday captured a second person wanted in connection with a shooting at an LAPD patrol car in South Los Angeles over the weekend, officials said.
James Brooks, 19, was taken into custody in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon and will be extradited to LA by the Fugitive Task Force, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.
Los Angeles police officers were driving about 9:30 p.m. Sunday near 62nd and Hoover streets when two people fired at their squad car, police said. The officers fired back, but the two people fled. No one was hurt.
Authorities found a rifle, a pistol and multiple shell casings, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said. Police also arrested 18-year-old Christopher Taylor in connection with the shooting.
LA County prosecutors on Tuesday alleged Taylor and another person opened fire on rival gang members in a car, which sped away just as an LAPD patrol car drove through the area.
Authorities said Brooks and Taylor belong to the same gang. Brooks was arrested based on a joint investigation by the FBI in LA and Vegas and LAPD, Eimiller said.
Taylor is set to be arraigned in January on two counts each of shooting at an occupied vehicle and assault on a peace officer with a semi-automatic firearm, and one count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, according to the DA's Office.
Police are investigating after a young man was shot and killed while sitting in a car in Hartford on Wednesday afternoon.
Hartford police have ruled the death a homicide, the 19th one of the year in the city.
According to police, the 20-year-old victim was shot in the chest near 1545 Main Street around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday. He was found in the driver's seat and was rushed to Saint Francis Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Police said it appears the victim was in a car that rolled back out of a driveway and into the street, then crashed into traffic on Main Street. It's not clear if the shooting was a drive-by or if there were other people in the car at the time.
"They found the car in the road, victim in the car," explained Hartford police spokesman Deputy Chief Brian Foley. "We're still trying to put the pieces together. It was called in as a car accident; it was not."
Major crimes detectives are investigating and police are interviewing witnesses in an effort to piece together what took place.
Authorities have not released the victim's identity but said he is a Hartford resident and is known to police.
