Accused I-95 shooter wrestled to the floor during court hearing

BRIDGEPORT — A Stamford man accused of firing a gun at passing cars on Interstate 95 last week was wrestled to the floor of the courtroom Monday after going on a tirade, accusing police of stealing his cat and his dog.

“I’m being treated as an animal,” Steve St. Jacques told Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander, shrugging off efforts by his public defender to keep him silent during the hearing. “Your honor where’s my house keys? They took my car keys, my cat, my dog, my credit cards. I have been left with nothing and these allegations are up in the air.”

St. Jacques, who refused to wear a protective face mask in the courtroom, pushed back at judicial marshals who moved on either side of him. A third marshal rushed over and the three marshals forced St. Jacques to the floor and handcuffed him as St. Jacques yelled, “I am clearly calm. This was predicted, it’s so predictable.”

Last week, following his arrest on charges of criminal possession of a firearm, unlawful discharge of a firearm, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, St. Jacques, 26, was released on home arrest because of the pandemic.

Judge Alexander said St. Jacques was notified to return to court on Monday for violating the conditions of his release. On May 31, the judge said, St. Jacques left his home without permission and went to New York.

Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Cornelius Kelly urged the judge to increase St. Jacques’ bond for not abiding by the conditions of release.

St. Jacques’ public defender began to address the court when St. Jacques snapped at her, “I speak for myself, I’m my own man.”

He then interrupted the judge demanding to know where his house keys were.

“The court finds he has failed to fulfill the terms of his release and poses a risk to the community,” Alexander continued after St. Jacques was removed from the courtroom by judicial marshals.

She ordered him held in lieu of $200,000 bond and continued the case to July 15.

Stamford police said St. Jacques was apparently suffering from paranoid delusions while high on a powerful hallucinogenic drug when he took to the Fairfield Avenue overpass and allegedly began firing down on cars on May 26.

“He went live on his Instagram account as he walked down the highway and talked about how he thought people were coming after him and he was shooting at them,” said Sgt. Sean Boeger, who headed up the investigation into the incident, after St. Jacques was taken into custody.

No one has reported any injuries or damage following the shooting incident, police said. Investigators found four fresh shell casings on the Fairfield Avenue overpass shortly after a security guard at One Stamford Place called 911 to report a man shooting a firearm from the bridge at 12:08 p.m. May 26.

Officers who responded to the call found St. Jacques on the shoulder of the northbound side of I-95, taking off his clothing and flagging down cars, police said. Officers took him to Stamford Hospital.

At one point, he told police that next time he would wait on the bridge and shoot at the police as they arrived, said Boeger.