7 February, 2017 – “DO I HAVE A WARRANT”?
At 3:20 PM, Officers Marco Correa and Bleck Joseph were cruising their beat around the Sunset Ridge Apartment Complex on Smith Avenue. Such beats supplement district patrol officers and focus on areas of the city prone to higher numbers of weapons, drug and violent crimes incidents.
Two days earlier, Officers Correa and Joseph had been involved in the investigation of a weapon complaint at 341 Smith Avenue, in which a resident allegedly displayed a black 9mm handgun. They knew the man alleged to have been involved and knew he drove a black Lexus or white SUV.
The next day, the officers spotted a Lexus parked there. It was unoccupied. They ran the plate and it came back to their suspect. The registration had expired. Their suspect was nowhere to be found.
Yesterday, the cops spotted a white SUV parked next to the Lexus. Minutes past six o’clock, they spotted the white SUV on the move. They got behind it following it toward the complex exit. Oddly, the driver stopped without being pulled over. He got out and headed toward the officer’s cruiser. They got out and addressed the man. He was Jerry Martinez Jr – their suspect from the prior gun complaint.
“… do I have a warrant”? he asked. They asked if they could search his car. He declined. The officers called for a K9. Officer Martin Feliciano showed up with “Axe”. The dog alerted to drugs present in the car. The search was on.
Confiscated from the car were seven bags of Crack cocaine, a bullet wrapped I a napkin, a digital scale, drug packaging materials and a black 9mm handgun. Confiscated from Martinez was his nearly five hundred dollars – suspect of being ill-gotten.
Jerry Luis Martinez (8-10-1990), of Welton Street in New Haven, was arrested and charged with having a weapon in a motor vehicle, carrying a pistol without a permit, possession of a controlled substance , possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, operation of motor vehicle with tinted windows without a tinting sticker and operation of motor vehicle under suspension. His car was impounded.
DUI CHECKPOINT ANNOUNCED FOR FRIDAY
The New Haven Police Department Traffic Division will conduct a DUI Checkpoint beginning on Friday, 9 February at 7:00 PM and concluding on Saturday, 10 February, at 3:00 AM. The checkpoint location will be on College Street at George Street
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