Police said a man pulled a gun on an Ansonia police officer in a parking lot off Maple Street Thursday (Aug. 14) afternoon before fleeing into the Riverside Apartments, jumping out of a window, then disappearing into the city’s north end.
The incident began about 1:45 p.m. in the parking lot of the Banana Market at 11 Maple St. when Officer Joseph Jackson saw a man drinking from an open container in the parking lot of the store, Lt. Andrew Cota said at the scene about 3:30 p.m.
Jackson went up to the man to find out what was going on, Cota said.
The man began “acting funny.”
“He reached into the front of his pants, pulled out a gun, jumped in the car and then threw the gun under the seat,” Cota said.
Article continues after photos from the scene.
The two began wrestling around in the parking lot as Jackson was trying to get control of the man at the same time as prevent him from getting to the gun, Cota said.
The man was able to run away into a nearby building of the Riverside Apartments on Olson Drive.
Jackson used his radio to call for help.
“Get some backup down here!” he said.
Listen to the audio clip from the transmission:
Police believe the suspect jumped out of a second-floor window from the apartment and fled across the Maple Street bridge into the city’s north end.
Police from Ansonia, Derby, and Seymour flooded the area in the minutes after the incident.
Several had guns drawn surrounding the building they believe the man fled into, but once police searched the apartment, they began clearing the scene.
A handful of state troopers also responded. A state police dog and its handler tracked the suspect across the Maple Street bridge and went as far as the area of Star and 4th streets before returning to the Maple Street scene.
Cota said police recovered a handgun from the vehicle and know who the suspect who fought with Jackson is.
“The officers know him by sight,” Cota said. Police will be preparing a warrant for his arrest.
Cota declined to name the man.
The owner of the car the man allegedly tossed the gun into claimed not to know the suspect, Cota said.
The car was towed away from the scene about an hour after the incident with cops trailing in an SUV.
Jackson, nicknamed “Action,” is a decorated and popular officer who has received several life-saving awards from the department.
State police are investigating a February incident during which Jackson shot a man who was allegedly trying to run him over after a traffic stop on the Maple Street bridge in February. Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale returned Jackson to active duty about a month ago, Cota said.
An Ansonia resident who gave her name and then requested anonymity said she was pulling into the parking lot of the market Thursday afternoon just as Jackson approached the man, who she said was seated in the passenger’s seat of a vehicle drinking what looked like a beer.
Jackson then decided to give the man a ticket, she said, after which the man got out of the car.
The next thing she knew the two were tussling, Jackson had drawn his gun, and the man ran away. The witness then took to Facebook and publicly contradicted the police account of what happened.
No shots were fired, nor was Jackson or any other officers injured, Cota said.
