Stamford | featured news

STAMFORD — One man was critically injured and a dozen parked cars were damaged when an elderly woman struck the vehicles Friday morning in the parking lot of a Strawberry Hill apartment complex. A 50-year-old man was trapped under one of the cars and went to Stamford Hospital with what was initially believed to be a broken leg and a minor injury to his head. He was later flown to Westchester County Medical Center in critical condition. The 82-year-old woman driver was also taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Sgt.

STAMFORD-Hart Magnet Elementary School was evacuated early Thursday afternoon because of a minor gas leak.

A fire official said that maintenance workers were purging a gas line of water on the roof of the Adams Avenue school, which released a small amount of gas into the building.

As a result the school was evacuated at about 2 p.m. and firefighters arrived to ventilate the area that smelled of gas and make sure the leak was contained.

jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com

Connecticut BBB says an Old Scam is Gaining New Traction in Local Communities Connecticut Better Business Bureau is helping police spread the word about a “Jury Duty Scam” being reported by Fairfield police. In variations of this scheme, telephone callers pose as law enforcement officials, members of the U.S. Marshals Service, bailiffs or court clerks.  They tell their would-be victims that they failed to appear for jury duty or answer a court summons, and that there is an active warrant out for their arrest.

STAMFORD — A sick pet pig was abandoned Tuesday at a veterinary clinic in the South End and authorities are searching for its owners, who they say also kept illegal wild animals.

The two women who brought Emma, a 5-pound pot bellied pig, to Cornell University Veterinary Specialists left to go to their car at 6:45 a.m. and never returned, Animal Control Officer Tilford Cobb said. They gave false names and telephone numbers to the clinic, where the pig has been experiencing seizures and may be euthanized, he said.

“It’s the cutest little pig,” Cobb said.

STAMFORD-About a dozen city police officers were pranked by what was probably an international gamer claiming that he shot someone and had taken hostages in the Turn of River neighborhood just before midnight Monday.

Sgt. Simon Blanc said 911-dispatch was called at 11:16 p.m. Monday by someone who said a juvenile had been shot in the stomach at a residence on Cedar Heights Road. Before disconnecting the emergency call, the caller claimed to have an AR-15 assault rifle and said he had taken some hostages.

STAMFORD — A renovated wing with rooms for children opened earlier this month at Stamford Hospital’s Whittingham Pavilion.

The Cohen Children’s Unit was funded by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, and designed by architects at EYP Health, which helped create the 650,000-square-foot Stamford Hospital that opened in 2016. It has 10 private patient rooms, a family lounge and extra space for guests to stay overnight.

STAMFORD — A man was mugged and beaten while walking down East Main early Monday morning.

Sgt. Jennifer Pinto said police responded about 1 a.m. Monday to a reported robbery next to the Firestone dealership near the railroad bridge on East Main.

The man, who told police he had been drinking heavily, said he was walking from Taco Bell to Culloden Road when he sensed someone was following him.

Two men appeared behind him when he got to Crystal Street and demanded his money.

STAMFORD — A busboy at a Summer Street restaurant has been accused of punching a co-worker in the face during a dispute over a food ticket, police said.

Police were called to The Fez about 10:30 p.m. Sunday for a report of a fight in the kitchen of the Moroccan restaurant.

Sgt. Jennifer Pinto said Edgar Marroquin, 21, got into an arguement with a waiter over food tickets in the restaurant that migrated into the kitchen.

STAMFORD — A man who was convicted in a 2010 shooting was arrested Saturday on gun possession charges.

Police charged Lamar Taylor, 30, after officers said they found a weapon in his car.

Around 12:45 a.m. Saturday, an officer patrolling near the Elks Club on Mission Street, where police said they frequently get complaints of shootings, fights and drugs, saw 10 men loitering in the parking lot, police said in a release. The officer, Lt. Diedrich Hohn, believed the men were drinking and smoking marijuana, police said.

STAMFORD — A University of Connecticut student is in stable, but critical condition after a near drowning incident Friday afternoon, police officials said. The 20-year-old student was swimming with a friend at a YMCA pool around 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, Sgt. Sean Boeger said. He said the student went under a few minutes after 4 p.m., but that the friend did not see what happened. “The friend didn’t see him go under,” Boeger said.