Bridgeport police arrested a city woman after they said she forced her 4-year-old to chug a bottle of beer and gave him and her 10-month old baby cocaine
Archive for July, 2011
Dallas murder fugutives arrested in Bridgeport
BRIDGEPORT — A nationwide manhunt for two suspects being sought in the killing of a Dallas store owner over two boxes of onions and her uneaten lunch ended Thursday when police said the were arrested at a city apartment house.
Lamarcus Mathis, 19, and a 17-year-old whose name is being withheld by Hearst Connecticut Media Group because of his age, were arrested by members of the U.S. Marshal Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force at an apartment house on Grand Street. They were each being held in lieu of $1 million bond pending a hearing in Superior Court here on Friday.
Dallas police said they had sought the two men since July 3 when they allegedly killed 64-year-old Jin Kim Ha in the grocery store that she owned with her husband. But despite the posting of a reward, the men could not be found.
According to Bridgeport Police Detective Robert Martin, a member of the task force, Thursday morning police received information Mathis and the 17-year-old had just arrived in Bridgeport by bus and were holed up in the home of a relative on Grand Street here.
He said task force members and local police with a dog surrounded the house. The two men then surrendered without incident.
Dallas police said both men could face the death penalty if convicted in Dallas of the murder.
Police said both men were tied to the murder from the store’s surveillance camera.
In the video, police said Ha is seen with her husband locking the fence in front of the convenience store at East Illinois Avenue and Overton Road when the two suspects drive up. When Jin Ha and her husband see the men, they crouch down next to their Honda minivan.
A man who police say is Mathis snatches a box Ha is carrying — which contained uneaten portions of her lunch and some onions — while a man police believe to be the 17-year-old holds a gun in each hand and shoots at the couple.
While one man is running away with the box, the other shoots at Ha one more time.
Ha, wounded, can be seen struggling to get back on her feet. She collapses near the back of her car in the arms of her husband. She died at Baylor University Medical Center.
Fairfield libraries are cooling centers
Fairfield Public Library and Fairfield Woods Branch Library are being used as “cooling centers” through Saturday for residents seeking relief from the heat.
The Post Road facility is open through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the Fairfield Woods Road branch library from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The two libraries will be open Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you have any questions or heat-related emergencies, call the First Selectman’s office at 203-256-3030 and they’ll redirect your call to the Emergency Management or Public Health.
Warrant Issued for Woman in “Mom-Snatching”
Milford police obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday afternoon for Jerlyn Gray, 54, of Stratford, for taking her elderly mother to Florida in violation of a court order, Sgt. Vaughan Dumas said.
Delores Gray suffers from dementia and has a court-appointed conservator. Jerlyn and her brother Jay are fighting in Milford Probate Court over where their mother will live. Judge Beverly Streit-Kefalas issued an order July 1 that Delores Gray remain in Connecticut until the matter is resolved.
Jet-Skier Rescues Drowning Man in Norwalk
Tom and Gloria Gallo of Trumbull say that if it wasn’t for the quick actions of a man on a nearby personal watercraft, Tom could have drowned in Long Island Sound on Sunday.
Michael Ripley of Easton pulled Gallo out of the water after the 55 year-old man had begun gulping water and was being carried away on a strong current. The Gallos had been out on their boat with two relatives when Gallo decided to take a quick swim.
“My husband is a strong swimmer and he’s been swimming all his life, but he told me that the harder he tried, the further away the current pulled him,” Gloria Gallo said Tuesday. “He said his arms and legs felt like lead, and he thought he was going to die.”
Gloria Gallo said that she doesn’t swim at all, “so my job was to yell for help. And this young man went out and pulled him back to our boat.
“I just want to publicly thank Mike and to let people know that the dangerous currents aren’t just along sandbars like at Silver Sands (State Park) but in a lot of places in the Sound,” she said.
A Hamden man drowned on July 4 when currents from a rising tide swept him off the sandbar at Silver Sands in Milford. Officials are asking boaters to monitor Ch. 16, which is used by the U.S. Coast Guard, and come to the aid of swimmers in distress when they can safely do so.
Cooling center open late in Stratford
Marc Dillon, chief of staff to Mayor John Harkins, just sent the following release:
In light of the forecasted heat wave and excessive heat over the next few days, Stratford Mayor John Harkins has announced that the Town of Stratford will be extending the operational hours of the Baldwin Senior Center on West Broad Street until 9 p.m. from, Tuesday, July 19 through Friday, July 22 to provide a centralized location for any residents that may need a respite from the expected hot and humid weather conditions
Mayor Harkins encouraged residents to take every measure possible to stay cool and protect themselves from the heat. “Heat and humidity are some of those weather conditions that sometimes we take lightly. But they can be very dangerous to seniors, young people, those that work outdoors and pets. Heat stroke and exhaustion or various levels of dehydration can hit quickly and take an immediate life-threatening toll,” said Harkins. The Mayor also added, “Anyone in severe distress or in need of emergency help should call 911.”
