Crime & Safety

Officer's Firearm Accidentally Discharged During Arrest

No one was injured, Deputy Police Chief Chris Lyddy said.

[Editor's note: Arrest information is supplied by the Fairfield Police Department. It does not indicate convictions.]

Fairfield police responded to a report of a burglary on Old Post Road late Tuesday that results in the arrest of a man with "extensive criminal history," department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier said.

During the struggle to detain the man, an officer's firearm was accidentally discharged, according to Deputy Police Chief Chris Lyddy. No one was injured and the bullet hit the pierced the ground. The incident remains under investigation.

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The call began when a complainant said he saw a man open his unlocked garage door, and steal a bicycle. The resident called police as the man began to flee down Old Post Road on the bicycle.

Responding officers saw the suspect on the bike and noted that, upon seeing police, the suspect turned around. Officers pursued the man on foot and commanded him to stop, but he reportedly did not comply.

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Police managed to detain the man -- identified as Leonard Morelllo, 58, of Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport-- and took him into custody. He was charged with third-degree burglary for allegedly taking the bicycle from the garage and sixth-degree larceny because police found on Morello's person a credit card holder with ID of an Old Post Road resident.  Officers determined that Morello had reportedly taken the credit card holder from an unlocked vehicle on Old Post Road.

Morello was further charged with criminal trespassing for allegedly entering the open garage of a third Old Post Road resident who told police he did not give Morello permission to do so and requested his arrest.

He was also charged with interfering with police for reportedly resisting arrest and refusing to be fingerprinted, police said. The department also served an outstanding warrant out of Hartford for failure to respond to a violation, Lussier said.

Morello was held in lieu of a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court for his Fairfield charges on Jan. 29 and for the Hartford arrest on Jan. 18.

According to Lussier, Morello has over 56 prior arrests on his record, including other burglaries and larcenies.


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