Connecticut, Stamford | featured news

STAMFORD - A Danbury woman was arrested early Tuesday morning after Stamford police found her laid out on a sidewalk in the area of Greenwich Avenue and Richmond Hill.

Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said officers were conducting a routine patrol in the area when they noticed the woman, who was later identified as Simone L. Medina, 32, lying face down on the sidewalk and they called EMS.

EMS responded and Medina was taken to Stamford Hospital for treatment. Police did not say what she was treated for.

STAMFORD - While setting up for a “Click It or Ticket” detail Monday morning on High Ridge Road, officers allegedly observed a vehicle cut off another vehicle without signaling and initiated a traffic stop.

Stamford Police Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said when police asked the driver, who was identified as Sheldon Bigby, 36, of Waterbury, for his identification and vehicle registration, Bigby became belligerent and refused to cooperate.

“He refused to give the officers his identification and he refused to get out of his vehicle,” Shawinsky said.

STAMFORD — City police are investigating an alleged robbery that occurred just before 11 p.m. Monday in the 100 block of Cove Road.

Stamford Police Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said an intoxicated Hispanic male told police he was robbed by three black males who hit him with a baseball bat and took his cash and wristwatch.

Due to the victim’s level of intoxication, Shawinsky said he was unable to provide descriptions of the assailants.

Police searched the area but were unable to locate the suspects.

Shawinsky said the investigation is ongoing.

kat.russell@stamfordadvocate.com

STAMFORD — A man who nearly sawed the hand off of a New York City businessman was found guilty of first-degree assault on Monday, but jurors were unable to reach a verdict on burglary and home invasion charges, which means that the state has the option of seeking a retrial for those offenses.

Cesar Olivero attacked the man at his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in what appeared to be a jealous fit of rage on June 25, 2015, according to police.

The man who was attacked was out having drinks in White Plains, N.Y. with Olivero’s estranged lover, with whom he has a child.

STAMFORD — Police arrested Ricardo Georges, 27, on Saturday afternoon in the South End and charged him with drug possession and assaulting a police officer, among other charges.

The Narcotics and Organized Crime division received a tip that Georges was selling in that area, and requested help from uniformed officers.

Georges was on a lengthy parole from his last arrest and release, said Capt. Rich Conklin told the Advocate on Monday.

Georges was stopped by police in the area of Ludlow and Cedar streets. As officers padded him down, they felt a bulge in his waist area.

STAMFORD — For decades, heroin dealers have been branding the translucent glassine envelopes they send out to the streets — as a marketing gimmick, a commentary on current events, or sometimes both.

Bags stamped WMD — weapons of mass destruction — were popular during the Iraq War. Blue Thunder heroin hit the streets in the early 1980s, right after the cop movie of the same name premiered in the theaters.

The stamps were a way for customers to identify a particular product in the unregulated, Wild West world of street-corner drug sales.

SOUTHBURY — A tractor trailer burst into flames and shut down both sides of the I-84 in Southbury early Saturday morning after an accident with another tractor trailer, according to police.

The accident occurred just before 5 a.m. Saturday when two tractor trailers collided just past Exit 16, headed eastbound on I-84 in Southbury.

There were only minor injuries reported in the accident, according to Connecticut State Police Troop A.

Both lanes on the eastbound and westbound areas of the highway between Exit 16 and 17 were shut down as of 5:20 a.m.

STAMFORD — Charter Communications has bought at a deep discount the distressed loan for the downtown building that houses its headquarters, a move that could lead to litigation by its landlord, which is also the note’s borrower. The telecommunications giant acquired the loan for $100 million, representing about 40 percent of the $265 million principal originated in 2007. The deal does not change Charter’s plans to move its main offices in two years to a new building at 406 Washington Blvd., company officials said Thursday.

STAMFORD - On Saturday, the Stamford police department will be holding a gun buyback event trading gift cards for unwanted firearms.

Anyone wishing to drop off a gun is asked to walk into police headquarters without the weapon and speak to the desk sargent, who will find someone to retrieve the firearm.

Officer Joseph Steyer said $100 will be paid for rifles or shotguns, $125 for handguns and $150 for assault weapons.

The guns must be operable to receive gift cards from Visa, Shop Rite or Target, Steyer said. The event will run from 10 a.m.

STAMFORD — A candidate who ran for the Board of Representatives has filed a complaint against city election officials questioning whether they followed the rules for tallying ballots in a close race that nearly triggered a recount.

Democrat Chris Woodside, a 23-year-old teacher who sought a seat in the 18th District, said the vote tally in his race changed after Election Day, putting him just over the margin for a mandatory recount. In a three-way race for two seats, Woodside lost to Republicans Charles Pia Jr. and J.R.