Connecticut, Stamford | featured news

State Police will monitor Connecticut’s roads for drunk driving, speeding, seat-belt violations and distracted driving over Labor Day weekend.

Troopers will use traditional and nontraditional state police vehicles to search for reckless and intoxicated drivers through Monday.

They will staff sobriety checkpoints, increase roving patrols and use the State Police Breath Alcohol Testing Mobile Unit, according to a news release.

Police officials are encouraging drivers to stay safe.

Police said more than 35 million drivers are expected to travel across the country this weekend.

STAMFORD — Mayor David Martin was today joined by Stamford-based Americares and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to highlight the best ways for Stamford residents to help the City of Houston, TX and the victims of Hurricane Harvey. The hurricane made initial landfall last Friday, and has produced 51 inches of rain in some areas, destroying some 48,000 homes. “The pictures and videos coming out of Texas and Louisiana get worse and worse every day, showing unthinkable devastation,” Martin said.

STAMFORD-A Massachusetts man was extradited to Stamford Thursday to face charges that he helped steal $54,000 from the bank account of a Stamford marble company.

Salesman Joel Sanchez, 29, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was charged with second-degree larceny and two counts of forgery for allegedly cashing two checks from the Stamford company worth $12,800, his three-page arrest warrant said.

After being brought to Stamford the single father of three posted a $15,000 court appearance bond and was released.

STAMFORD-In what is becoming a semi-regular crackdown on misbehavior at city parks and beaches, police on Thursday wrote over 40 summonses for a variety of violations.

The crackdown began a Cummings Beach shortly before 5 p.m. with several police officers and parks police.

The “quality of life detail” as police call it, resulted in 20 tickets being issued for motor vehicle infractions, most notably failure to grant the right of way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

STAMFORD-What started with a police call about son upset with his parents for stealing his bullets, ended with the young man being arrested for being illegally in possession of a pistol.

Police were called to Camp Avenue just before noon on Thursday after receiving a call about a domestic upset.

When they got there they were told that the parents of Andre Lecky, 20, found some bullets in his bedroom some time ago. But on Thursday he became upset and demanded them back.

STAMFORD-A Norwalk man who was 16 when he was arrested for shooting another teen in the chest in 2013 was sentenced to 90 months in jail on Thursday.

Darnell “Pookie” Brown, 20, was given a 15-year sentence suspended after seven and one-half years at the Stamford courthouse after pleading guilty to a charge of first-degree assault at the Stamford courthouse earlier this year. He will remain on probation for five years after serving the sentence, which is due to run out in 2020.

STAMFORD-A man with a gun put up a terrific fight while he was being apprehended at the Stamford train station early Thursday afternoon.

“He put up a vicious fight as he was being taken into custody and he had a gun, but none of our guys were badly hurt,” Capt. Richard Conklin said. No shots were fired during the takedown.

The incident involving the Narcotics and Organized Crime squad occurred just a little before 1:30 p.m. outside the Stamford train station.

Conklin said he was still gathering information on the arrest and would be providing more details later in the afternoon.

STAMFORD- booked for possession of 20 phony bills did not slake one Stamford man’s appetite for trouble.

Police say that Eugene Lyles, 56, turned uncooperative and tampered with evidence after being brought back to police headquarters for allegedly trying pass counterfeit bills at Ridgeway Shopping Center on Wednesday afternoon.

Along with the bills, police also found a receipt from Michaels that appeared to have been given to Lyles after he passed a phony bill for a small purchase at the arts and crafts store.

STAMFORD-Less than a month after a five-year-old New Canaan boy nearly drowned at Chelsea Piers in Stamford, the company has announced the hiring of an independent company to review its poolside safety procedures. According to an announcement to its members, on Friday when it closes its pools for yearly maintenance an international aquatic safety and consulting firm will be on site to begin training life guards and managers. The near drowning happened Aug. 3 at about 12:30 p.m. when a lifeguard noticed that a child was underwater.

STAMFORD-The 65-year-old Stamford man who police say confessed to selling the heroin to a man less than half his age who died in July after taking the drug is being held in lieu of a $100,000 cash bond.

On Tuesday, James Pipicelli, 65, of West Main Street, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and sale of narcotics following the death of 28-year-old Daniel Peretz. Peretz’s body was discovered after his ex-girlfriend went to his Towne Street apartment at midnight on July 14 because they were supposed to meet up during the day, but he did not show.