Man Hit, Killed by 2 Cars in Norwalk

(12/23/11) NORWALK - Norwalk police say a man was killed after he was hit by two cars early this morning.

Investigators say James Shaw, 21, of Norwalk, was walking on the Route 7 connector just after midnight.

Police say an officer saw Shaw walking and shined a spotlight on him to help other drivers see him. They say Shaw then crossed into the road where he was stuck.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 203-854-3000.

This Day In History

May 6 1853
Ignoring signals, a train travels through an open drawbridge and into the Norwalk river in Connecticut, killing 46 passengers. The engineer and crew jumped clear, not warning the others of their fate.

May 6 1937
Zeppelin Hindenberg explodes at Lakehurst NJ, leaving 36 dead and others seriously burned. Official cause of the explosion is listed as "St. Elmo's Fire," although it probably also involved the flammable silver paint the Germans used to coat the thing.

Two-in-one-day:

May 6 1993
Disgruntled postal worker Mark Richard Hilburn (recently fired) enters the Dana Point, CA post office and shoots two former coworkers, killing one.

May 6 1993
Disgruntled 27-year veteran Lawrence Jasion enters the garage area of the Dearborn, Michigan post office and whips out a .38 revolver. He proceeds to kill mechanic Gary Montes and wound two other coworkers. Before anyone can react, Jasion then blows his brains out. The Dearborn office was infamous for its authoritarian policies.

Teen Fights for Life After Hit-and-Run

NORWALK - Norwalk police are searching for the person who hit and severely injured a teen on New Year's Eve.

Tianna Escourse, 16, was found lying in a snow bank along Taylor Avenue. Her mother says she was on her way home from a New Year's Even party with her older sister when the two got into an argument and split up.

The sister made it home, but Tianna was hit by a car and left lying in a snow bank near Taylor Avenue and Church Street.

Tianna's mother is asking the driver to turn him or herself in.

Anyone with information is urged to call Norwalk police at 203 854 3051

Norwalk Teacher Sentenced for Having Sex with Student

STAMFORD -- The Brien McMahon High School art director who pleaded guilty to having sex with a student will spend one year in prison and will then be on probation for 20 years, a judge announced at Friday's sentencing.

John Tate, 54, of Edgewood Avenue, Stamford, was led away in handcuffs Friday morning after Stamford Superior Court Judge Richard Comerford handed down the agreed-upon jail of eight years, suspended after a year served, on charges of second-degree sexual assault and tampering with a witness. During the Norwalk Police Department investigation, the girl told police she and Tate had intercourse 20 times, including in a classroom and at a cemetery, the two-page arrest warrant affidavit states.

In addition to his prison sentence, Tate must register as a sex offender and will serve 20 years on probation.

"This was devastating for all the families involved," defense attorney Mark Sherman said. "John has accepted responsibility and wants to start serving his time."

Greenwich Man Charged in Gas Station Shooting

STAMFORD -- A 22-year-old Greenwich man was charged with attempted murder Wednesday afternoon in the November 2009 near-fatal shooting of an Old Greenwich gas station attendant and will face felony murder charges Thursday for a deadly robbery in Norwalk that occurred a month before.

Alain LeConte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned Wednesday in state Superior Court in Stamford on attempted murder and felony robbery charges, nearly a year after an attendant at the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue was shot in the head and survived.

LeConte is expected to be formally charged with the brutal murder of Norwalk gas station clerk Jose Joaquin Morales on Thursday.

Norwalk police Chief Harry Rilling said LeConte, and another man, Mustafa Jacobs will be charged in the Norwalk robbery homicide on Thursday at state Superior Court in Norwalk.

Morales, 32, was behind the cash register of Miracle Shell on West Avenue, next to the northbound entrance of Interstate 95, at 2:15 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2009 when two men, police have identified as LeConte and Jacobs entered the convenience store and demanded money. Security video shows Morales complied with the demand and was on the ground when he was shot in the head by one of the masked robbers. A few days later, Morales was taken off life support and died at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Jacobs is also facing felony murder and first-degree robbery charges for his role in the Morales murder.

Two other men, Taran Nelson, 23, of Waterbury and David Wash, 37, of Bridgeport are facing robbery and conspiracy charges for their role in the Greenwich shooting. Wash was also arraigned Wednesday and is being held on $500,000 bond.

Police are also looking to charge a fifth suspect who they have not yet identified in the incidents.

The Mobil on the Run shooting occurred just after 1 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2009 when a man, now identified as LeConte, entered the store wearing a mask and a hooded sweatshirt and demanded cash. The 37-year-old clerk complied with the request, but the suspect still shot him in what police have described as an unprovoked attack.

LeConte, who is already incarcerated after being charged in a Stamford bodega robbery, was held on $1 million bond. In the Stamford robbery, police caught LeConte while he was committing the act. Police said he held a gun to a the head of a female clerk at the Adams Avenue store.

LeConte appeared in court Wednesday wearing a bright orange prison-issue jumpsuit and scanned the gallery for friends and relatives before his arraignment began. Attorney Mark Phillips, who is representing him currently for the Stamford robbery was again appointed special public defender for LeConte, who is due back in court Jan. 5.

The arrests of LeConte and the the three other alleged conspirators after Greenwich and Norwalk detectives teamed up.

Greenwich Police began to focus on LeConte soon after he was arrested by Stamford Police on Dec. 12, 2009, while committing a robbery at a bodega, Chief David Ridberg said in a 1 p.m. press conference at police headquarters.

Because LeConte was held in custody after that robbery, it gave Greenwich Police time to develop their case, Ridberg said.

In that case, Stamford Police were tipped off about the robbery and arrested LeConte and accomplice David Hackney of Bridgeport as they walked out of Adams Grocery at 20 Adams Ave.

LeConte had pointed a revolver at the face of the cashier who handed over less than $250 to the robbers who had pulled pantyhose over their faces as a disguise.

Greenwich Police worked hard to solve the Mobil shooting, said the department's detective division head.

"It was an extremely violent crime," Capt. Mark Marino, head of the Greenwich Police Department's detective division said. "When you have a case of that severity you were going to put the resources into solving it."

Police declined to say whether a weapon was recovered.

Norwalk police Detective James O'Leary said authorities put the two cases together because it was the first execution-style robbery in the area in years.

Police wouldn't go into specifics of the case because the warrants are sealed due to court orders. Marino said police believe Wash and Nelson were in the area when LeConte is alleged to have shot the clerk.

Greenwich Police stopped and arrested Wash as he was driving northbound on Interstate 95 near Exit 4 Tuesday afternoon. Police "had been in communication" with Wash prior to the arrest Marino said, but he declined to say when or how that communication was done. He offered no resistance when he was arrested, police said. A male passenger was in Wash's vehicle but he had nothing to do with the case and was released, Marino said.

Nelson turned himself in to Greenwich Police Wednesday morning. He was released on a promise to appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 22.

Detective Pasquale Iorfino, of the Greenwich Police Department, attributed the "successful outcome" of the case to his partner, lead investigator Detective David Wilson, and the work of neighboring police agencies.

"After a year-long investigation by Detective Dave Wilson, we are happy to see that justice is done and a man like this won't be walking the streets for a very long time," said Iorfino, as he walked out of the courtroom.

Wilson,said he spoke with the the former Mobil employee's wife Wednesday morning to inform her of the arrests.

"She was ecstatic," he said during the press conference. "She was very happy that these guys were arrested today."

The man had been shot in the back of the head during the armed robbery and although police didn't release details of his condition, they said it was a serious wound.

"Let's just say the Good Lord saved that man," Iorfino said.

The Norwalk store clerk was not as fortunate and the Morales family continues to grieve, said their attorney Alex Martinez.

Norwalk police met regularly with the Morales family updating them on the progress of the investigation and Martinez said they can now begin the process of healing now that suspects are behind bars.

"Now that the family has been notified that there appears to be some closure, as far as identifying the responsible person, that is extremely gratifying," Martinez said. "It is a beginning of the healing. It is a start. You could tell there was a weight coming off their shoulders when I told them that an arrest was imminent."

Police: Parents Arrested After Leaving Kids in SUV for Hours

(11/29/10) NORWALK - Police arrested two parents after they say their children were left in their SUV while they allegedly drank at a Norwalk bar for hours.

Officials say 32-year-old Franklin Torres-Barrera and 33-year-old Gina Rodriguez-Zumba left their two children in the vehicle on Sunday morning at Club El Dorado.

Police say an officer saw the car in the parking lot and noticed the two children, a 1-year-old and a 7-year-old.

The father and mother said that they were only in the bar for a few minutes, but police say a doorman at the bar says the couple was inside for hours.

Police say the children are OK. The parents have posted bond and are due in court next month.

Norwalk Man Jailed for Assaults Involving Son

NORWALK -- A city man who pleaded guilty to two fights involving his son was sharply rebuked by a judge during his sentencing Tuesday.

Richard Zwart, 52, of 31 Betts Place, Norwalk, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault, violation of a protective order, resisting arrest, and criminal violation of a restraining order; he was sentenced to 18 months in jail at state Superior Court in Norwalk.

After hearing the particulars of Zwart's crimes recited by Assistant State's Attorney Justina Moore, Judge Bruce Hudock let Zwart know the dim view he had of his parenting skills.

"You are a hopeless alcoholic," Hudock began, before calling Zwart's actions "shameful."

"The thing is, that is what you will be remembered for in the next generation... That is going to be on your grave stone that you were a drunk," the judge said after issuing his sentence.

Often in cases involving alcohol and driving -- especially when there has been an accident -- Hudock has compassionately urged defendants to realize they have hit rock bottom and use their conviction as a first step toward a new life. His verdict Tuesday was absent any sympathy.

Zwart's guilty pleas came from a string of arrests involving his son that began in 2009. On June 20, 2009, Zwart's son Richard was seen entering a 6 Broad St. apartment with a weapon. A witness then heard Zwart yelling outside the apartment and then saw the son lying on the living room floor. Because of a vacant look on the son's face and what appeared to be blood in the apartment, police were called, Moore said.

Police later found a broken wooden baton that Zwart apparently used to strike his son. The son, now 28, turned out to be extremely drunk and what looked like blood was actually salsa from bottle that was broken in the apartment during another fight between the two several hours earlier, police at the time said. Richard Zwart Jr., who was taken to the hospital with facial injuries, said he did not know how he was injured.

On June 12 this year, Zwart and his son were arrested when a Rowayton Avenue resident reported a ruckus involving the two men, who explained they had just gotten off a boat after drinking beer. They told police they went to where their bicycles were locked up but could not find a key to unlock them, Moore said.

Police ended up finding the key in the bicycle lock and booked the two for disorderly conduct and violation of a protective order because they were not supposed to be drinking.

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HAHAHAHA the key was in the lock! And there was a broken bottle of salsa which resembled blood... It's like the two stooges!

Drama in Court - Norwalk Teen Charged with Attempted Murder in Attack on Pregnant Girlfriend

NORWALK -- The arraignment of a city teen charged with trying to kill his pregnant girlfriend was temporarily halted at state Superior Court at Norwalk Monday afternoon when pandemonium broke out in a courtroom and a relative of the victim tried to climb a glass partition and get at the defendant.

Judge Bruce Hudock ordered the courthouse's largest courtroom cleared after Judicial Marshal Darren Opper pulled the woman off the partition and angry screams could be heard over the defendant's mother shrieking "That's my baby. That's my baby. He's only 17."

The 12:25 p.m. incident seemed to have been sparked by the cries of defendant Terrence Crawford's mother, who began wailing when he was brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and relatives of the injured teenaged girl became upset at her cries for mercy and understanding.

The girl remains at Norwalk Hospital in intensive care with an punctured lung and numerous knife cuts over her body, her mother said. The fetus appears to have survived the attack.

By the time the court was ordered cleared, a number of marshals had moved to restrain the relatives upset at Crawford.

When Hudock allowed everyone back into the courtroom a little over 10 minutes later, he announced he would jail anyone who disturbed the proceedings.

"Do the smart thing and leave the courtroom if you cannot control yourself," he said, before bringing Crawford out for the second time with as many as 14 marshals standing by.

Crawford, 17, of 9 Armstrong Court, Norwalk, is charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and resisting arrest; Hudock ordered his bond be raised from $250,000 to $500,000. The hearing proceeded smoothly and no one was arrested.

The mother of the victim, who is not being named because it would identify her daughter, said Crawford lured her daughter into the woods next to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in order to stab and kill her because she was pregnant with Crawford's baby. She said she was happy that Hudock raised Crawford's bond.

"I think it is crazy and I just want him to pay for what he did," she said.

The case was transferred to the Part A docket at the Stamford courthouse, where more serious crimes in the area are handled.

In numerous police reports contained in Crawford's file, a neighbor called police Saturday night just before 11 p.m. to report that a bleeding girl had been left on the steps of 31 Clay Street.

When police arrived, a resident told police the two young who men carried the girl out of the woods before leaving them near a home, ran down some steps connecting Clay Street with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The girl, 16, told the officer that she had just been stabbed by Crawford, her boyfriend and a friend of his in the woods. She had sustained several left side puncture wounds, a cut on the left side of her neck, a cut on her left elbow, cuts on both hands and a cut just above the left side of her buttock, police said.

The girl said she met Crawford and his 17-year-old friend at the South Norwalk train station, where they had just come from Bridgeport. She said Crawford told her he was having trouble with police and they needed to lay low and he took her into the wooded area. She said she told him she was pregnant with his baby.

That is when Crawford and his friend began hitting her.

"Terrence must have had a knife because I realized I was stabbed where Terrence was hitting me," she said in a statement to police.

Crawford's friend, who is not being identified because he is 17, told police Crawford was talking about killing his girlfriend because she is pregnant, but he thought he was kidding. Crawford told the friend that he "don't want no damn baby," the friend's told police; as they were standing next to the woods, Crawford told her he needed to talk to her.

"As he began walking in the woods with her I saw him begin to pull a knife out of his jeans. I thought to myself he is really going to stab her. A couple of minutes later I heard her screaming really loud. She was yelling, "it hurts" and "I'm bleeding," his statement said.

After the girl was brought to the Clay home and the call went out for the stabbing, police officers traveling from the police department on Monroe Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive saw two young men.

The pair began to run when police got close and began questioning them. Crawford ran north on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and, after a brief foot chase that ended after at least one officer pulled his service weapon, Crawford was placed in handcuffs.

The arresting officer noticed Crawford had cuts on his right hand and blood on his clothes and body.

He told the officers, "I didn't do anything. I gotta check on my girl." Then he said, "It's my girl's blood. I tried to carry her from the woods. I gotta see if my girl's OK," a police report by the arresting officer said.

3 Accidents Hit the Merritt

We're getting as bad as Russia!

Daily Norwalk- A total of 10 cars are involved in three accidents this morning on the Merritt Parkway north.

Three people were hospitalized this morning after three separate accidents on the Merritt Parkway north between Exits 40 and 42.

At about 7:26 a.m., the Westport Fire Department responded to the report of multiple car accidents along the Merritt. Upon arrival, Westport firefighters discovered three separate accidents along to roadway between Exit 40 in Norwalk and Exit 42 in Westport involving a total of 10 cars. Norwalk firefighters were also on scene, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Kepchar said.
Firefighters checked the occupants of the cars for injuries. Three people were transported to Norwalk Hospital by Westport EMS.

State police were investigating the causes. Icy conditions were believed to have contributed, Kepchar said in a statement. Drivers were reminded to drive at safe speeds in bad weather conditions.

The last Westport fire unit left the scene by 8:34 a.m.

Jury Selected in DiMeo Murder Trial

FAIRFIELD - A jury has been selected for the trial of a man accused of murdering two Fairfield jewelers in their store.

Chri DiMeo is accused of killing Tim and Kim Donnelly during a robbery in 2005.

DiMeo's ex-girlfriend already has pleaded guilty in the case.

DiMeo could receive the death penalty if he is convicted.
His trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 18.
Jury selection under way in Fairfield double murder trial

Tyler Perry Film Shoots in Norwalk

ROWAYTON - Residents in Norwalk got the chance to catch a glimpse of a Hollywood movie in the making this week.

The Tyler Perry film "We the Peeples" was shooting at the Rowayton Market on Rowayton Avenue today. The crew changed the market to look like the Ship's Ahoy Market in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

Producer Stephanie Allain says the film came to Norwalk instead of filming in the Hamptons because Connecticut offers film tax credits.

The Rowayton Market will return to business as usual tomorrow, but the film crew says it will be around town for a few more days. It says it also plans to shoot some scenes in Greenwich and Darien.

Norwalk Teen Arraigned for Allegedly Stabbing Pregnant Girlfriend

NORWALK - A Norwalk teen faced a judge today after police say he stabbed his pregnant girlfriend over the weekend.

The incident allegedly happened Saturday night on Clay Street and ended near the train station.

Police say 17-year-old Terrance Crawford was upset after finding out that his 16-year-old girlfriend was pregnant.

The victim's family says she and her baby are expected to be OK.

Crawford has been charged with attempted murder and is being held on $5,000 bond.

Brutal Murder Still Haunts City of Norwalk

On September 23, 1986, eleven year old Kathleen Flynn was reported missing by her mother.

The sixth grader at Ponus Ridge Middle School had not been seen since she left school that day.

Police, firefighters and civilian volunteers searched for the young girl and found her early next morning in some woods alongside the middle school. Kathleen Flynn had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

The State of Connecticut is offering a $20,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of Kathleen Flynn's killer(s). If you know anything about this case, please call Norwalk Detective Sgt. Art Weisgerber at 203-854-3011.

-Detailed article here-

Norwalk Store Robbery Victim Dies, Reward Now Offered for Information

..I wonder if it's the same robber that shot the Greenwich gas station attendant in the head last year, right around the time of this robbery?? He's lucky because at least he had lived..

NORWALK -- Doctors at Yale-New Haven Hospital took a Norwalk Shell station clerk off life support Monday who had been shot in the head during a robbery at the West Avenue gas station early Saturday morning.

An autopsy on the man, Jose Joaquin Morales, 33, of 17 Lee St., Stamford, is scheduled for today at the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

"This is so horrendous and so absolutely outrageous that I would hope anyone with information would be so angry they would call us and give us information," Norwalk Police Chief Harry Rilling said. "The robbery was extremely brutal. Words cannot explain how horrendous this was."

The robbery occurred just before 2:13 a.m. Saturday, when police said two masked men -- at least one armed with a handgun -- walked into the station's large convenience store and demanded money from Morales. The station is about 150 yards from Interstate 95's northbound Exit 15.

A security video shows that Morales complied with the demand and was on the ground when he was shot in the head by one robber, Rilling said.

"It is beyond belief that they would feel it was necessary to do that. Everybody was cooperating," Rilling added.

Pending autopsy results, Morales could become Norwalk's first homicide victim in nearly 15 months.

Morales was treated at the scene by officers and paramedics and then transported to Norwalk Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said. Because of the extent of his injuries, he was transferred later Saturday to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was put on life support.

Surveillance videos from the station and surrounding businesses are being reviewed by investigators, Rilling said.

Marvin Morales said his cousin came to the United States from Guatemala about 14 years ago and began working for the Shell station about 7 months ago.

Another cousin, Luis Morales, said that Joaquin came to America for a better future and to help his parents by sending them money.

He said his single cousin was happy most of the time and enjoyed socializing and going to church.

The family hopes to raise about $14,000 to send his body back for burial in Guatemala.

At the request of the State's Attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk, Governor M. Jodi Rell authorized a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of Mr. Morales.

Anyone with information in the case should contact Norwalk Police Department at 203-854-3000.

Bridgeport Woman Killed in I-95 Car Crash

BRIDGEPORT - A former Bridgeport high school student is dead after she crashed her car in Norwalk yesterday.

Officials say it happened around noon when Liset Santos, 19, was trying to merge onto the southbound side of the highway between exits 14 and 15.

Police say Santos lost control of her car and collided with an SUV, then a tractor-trailer.

Santos graduated from Kolbe Cathedral High School in 2008 and teachers say she was known for her heart of gold. She was a junior at Monroe College in New Rochelle.