Police: Man charged with murder for Bridgeport homicide
BRIDGEPORT — Jorge “Indio” Tirado died in a hail of bullets but, police said, his killer left a very distinctive clue.
When Ricardo Torres fired 17 shots at Tirado’s sport utility vehicle, he was wearing a sweatshirt with his company’s logo on it, according to police.
The 32-year-old Torres was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder, criminal possession of a pistol and carrying a pistol without a permit.
“These are serious charges and he has a felony record,” Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Nicholas Bove said during Torres’ arraignment Tuesday afternoon as Torres watched the proceeding via video from the basement lockup in the courthouse.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Doyle ordered Torres held in lieu of $2 million bond and continued the case to Nov. 10.
“There are circumstances around the incident that will be made public at the appropriate time and these facts are necessary to understand what happened that day,” said Torres’ lawyer, Frank Riccio II. He would not elaborate.
Shortly before 8 a.m. on Sept. 24, police were alerted to numerous gunshots in the area of Canfield Avenue in the city’s Black Rock neighborhood, according to Torres’ arrest warrant affidavit.
When Officer Pedro Rosa got to the scene, he saw a burnt-orange Saturn Vue resting against a tree at the intersection of Canfield Avenue and Fox Street, the warrant said.
Police said the driver of the SUV, Tirado, was slumped in the driver’s seat with a bullet hole in his back.
According to his death notice, Tirado was born on May 2, 1984 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“Jorge was affectionately known as Indio. He was loyal, giving and friendly,” according to the death notice. “Jorge was a great father, son, brother and friend. He loved baseball and cars, Jorge was an excellent pitcher and enjoyed traveling to play Series del Caribe.” His SUV was riddled with bullet holes and, police said, they found 17 spent bullet shell casings on Fox Street.
Many people were getting ready for work at the time in the residential neighborhood and police said they located a number of witnesses to the shooting, the warrant said. But while many of the witnesses were somewhat vague on the shooter’s features, police said they all could recall one thing that stood out in their minds about the shooter: he was wearing a sweatshirt with the logo of a local landscaping company.
Police said when detectives contacted the landscaping company, they learned that shortly after the shooting one of their more dependable employees, Torres, had called in and said he had “a problem,” and would not be back to work.