New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Man charged in connection with shots fired at undercover cop in West Haven
MILFORD — A Bridgeport man was arrested Tuesday after police said a passenger from a car he was driving fired shots at an undercover cop in West Haven.
The suspect later told police he was “surprised” by the shooting, but also allegedly drove the gunman away from the scene afterward.
Harvey Nelson, 28, was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree assault in connection to the shooting, which occurred about 7 p.m. Tuesday on Hinman Street.
Police also served Nelson with an arrest warrant charging him with seconddegree larceny, seconddegree stalking, and second-degree assault in connection to a West Haven domestic violence incident.
He was arraigned Wednesday before Judge Auden Grogins, who held him held in lieu of $500,000 on the conspiracy charge.
Nelson is due to appear at Superior Court in Bridgeport Thursday, where court officials said he owes more than eight years in prison after admitting a probation violation in a larceny case, for which he was ordered rearrested in February 2022.
He also faces charges of skipping court dates in
New Haven and Waterbury.
According to a police report, an undercover West Haven cop was tailing the vehicle, a Honda Accord, in an unmarked Toyota Camry Tuesday because the car was allegedly used in a Jan. 7 armed robbery of a First Avenue vape shop.
The officer tailed the car to Shelton, where a female was dropped off, then picked up two hours later, according to the report, after which the vehicle headed back to West Haven.
The officer parked about a block away from the home of its registered owner. The Honda then drove by the undercover vehicle, after which the officer “immediately heard gunshots and observed a male shooting at him.”
Police later found six 9 mm shell casings in the road.
The man fled on foot toward Gilbert Street, according to the report, before getting back into the Honda, which drove off toward New Haven, where it was later found by police there in a parking lot on Chapel Street with a woman
in the passenger’s seat. Nelson was located in the area later and detained.
According to the police report, Ring camera footage obtained by police in the area captured the shooting, and showed the shooter emerge from the rear driver’s side door of car before firing at the officer’s vehicle, as the Honda accelerated out of view.
Nelson told police he was with a friend when he picked up his girlfriend from work and told the man that he was being followed.
According to the report, Nelson said he then drove by the undercover vehicle several times, and as he was approaching a nearby stop sign, his friend “quickly exited the vehicle and fired several rounds at the Toyota.”
“Nelson stated he started to drive off... and was surprised (the suspect) had even jumped out of the car and did that,” the report states.
West Haven Police did not immediately respond to a message seeking information about the case.