Police say DNA taken from a bloody gun found in a yard in Derby matches the DNA of a man accused of trying to run down an Ansonia police officer on the Maple Street bridge Feb. 1.
The DNA match caused police in Derby Dec. 15 to charge 33-year-old city resident Maurice “Mo” Beall with criminal possession of a pistol and carrying a pistol without a permit.
Beall is being held in the Bridgeport Correctional Facility pending his next court date.
The new Derby charges are the seventh and eighth criminal charges lodged against Beall in connection to the Feb. 1 incident, which started on the Maple Street bridge in Ansonia before ending on East Ninth Street in Derby, where Beall lived.
The information presumably bolsters the prosecution’s case against Beall, who already faced felony charges of assaulting a police officer and second-degree assault.
The new information also lends credibility to Ansonia Officer Joseph Jackson’s statement that he thought Beall was possibly looking for a weapon during their altercation on the Maple Street bridge.
Beall’s lawyer, though, said Jackson’s version of the shooting does not add up.
“The physical evidence is inconsistent with Officer Jackson’s version of the events,” lawyer Gregory Cerritelli said.
Jackson shot Beall twice — once in the gut, once in the wrist — after Beall tried to run him over, according to police.
Beall, though shot in Ansonia, drove to his East Ninth Street residence in Derby.
Derby police, responding to a report of a man shot, found Beall collapsed in the rear of his property, dripping blood.
A Derby sergeant asked Beall who shot him.
“Officer Jackson,” Beall said several times, according to an arrest warrant.
The Shooting
Jackson was crossing over the Maple Street bridge from Main Street toward Olson Drive at about 2 p.m. Feb. 1 when he heard a woman in a car behind him beeping her horn, according to a police report.
The woman said there had just been a motor vehicle accident at the bridge and Main Street, but one of the vehicles was driving away.
Jackson continued onto Olson Drive, then turned around to cross over the bridge again, back toward Main Street, according to the police report.
Witnesses directed Jackson to a SUV that had pulled over on the bridge. The driver, identified as Beall by Jackson, got out.
Jackson said Beall ran toward the passenger’s side of his SUV “and began to reach for something near the floor,” according to a police report.
Beall was later revealed not to have a valid driver’s license.
Jackson said Beall wouldn’t “comply with his orders,” according to the report.
“Officer Jackson stated he then attempted to physically remove Beall from the vehicle to stop him from possibly obtaining a weapon.”
Beall crawled from the passenger’s seat into the driver’s seat. Jackson stood in front of the vehicle to stop it from moving.
Beall then drove at Jackson, striking the cop in the legs and midsection, according to the report.
Jackson said he fired three shots at Beall.
Attorney Disagrees
Gregory Cerritelli, Beall’s lawyer, disputed the allegation that Beall tried to run Jackson over.
Cerritelli said the physical evidence in the case helps his client.
“It’s more than just Mr. Beall saying Officer Jackson shot him for no reason,” Cerritelli said. “It’s my client’s statement, coupled with the physical evidence, which does not match Officer Jackson’s versions of the events at all — unless his bullets can go sideways.”
Cerritelli also said Beall and Jackson have known each other for a long time, but did not explain how that applies to the case.
“These two certainly have known each other, and Officer Jackson is a bit of a presence in the Ansonia Police Department, “ Cerritelli said. “He’s been around a long time, but I think there are, obviously, vastly different versions as to how this incident took place. I think we need to explore every avenue.”
The defense lawyer has filed a Freedom of Information request to get access to Jackson’s personnel file.
The article continues after the photo gallery.
A Bloody Trail
An arrest warrant recently filed in Superior Court in Derby sheds more light on what police said happened after Jackson shot Beall.
Derby police, already on the lookout for Beall’s SUV, were sent to the intersection of East Hawkins and Ninth streets to investigate a report of a person shot.
A man from the neighborhood came running at police, telling cops there was a person with gunshot wounds on East Ninth Street. Police found a Cadillac SUV with its engine running — along with two bullet holes in the windshield and a third in the driver’s side window.
Cops went to the rear of an East Ninth Street property and found Beall lying on doors that led to a cellar.
Police immediately called for an ambulance.
Beall’s girlfriend was tending to his wounds, according to the arrest warrant.
State police then arrived at the scene in Derby, and were later assigned to investigate the shooting. They have not released the results of their report.
Derby Police Officer Stephanie Kowalec noted that a trail of blood led from the SUV into the property, and that there was a pool of blood on the side of the house, next to a hat and clothing.
The Gun
Another person from the neighborhood approached police and said there was a gun in the grass next to a tree in his backyard.
Police found the weapon and described it as being covered with “a red, blood-like substance.”
Police described the weapon as a Kel-Tec P‑11.
Authorities later took DNA samples from the gun and from Beall. They matched, police said.
No identifiable finger prints were found on the weapon, but Derby police used the DNA information to level weapons charges against Beall Dec. 15.
Beall has a prior felony conviction and nine previous convictions overall.
Beall pleaded not guilty to the initial charges filed against him in Ansonia.
He has not entered a plea in connection to the new charges filed in Derby.
He is due in court again Jan. 12, 2015.
