ANSONIA — A 40-year old New Haven man was charged in connection to an afternoon shootout in downtown Ansonia.
Daycus Bailey is charged with first-degree attempted criminal assault, criminal possession of a firearm, stealing a firearm, and unlawful discharge of a weapon. He is being held on a $500,000 bond, police said in a prepared statement Wednesday evening.
More arrests are expected.
Police responded to a report of shots fired at about 3:26 p.m. on Dec. 29, 2022 on Bridge Street between Main and West Streets. Police believe two people fired at each other — one from a vehicle, the other on a sidewalk.
Daycus Bailey
No injuries were reported, which is lucky, because several rounds entered nearby businesses. One parked car was hit, too.
Police didn’t specify whether Bailey was in the vehicle or outside it, nor did they detail a motive.
However, police said detectives recovered a handgun that Bailey is suspected of using. Police also said other evidence links Bailey to the crime.
“The investigation is ongoing, detectives are working to identify the other suspect who fired shots during the incident,” Lt. Patrick Lynch said in a prepared statement.
The investigation into the Dec. 29 shootout is ongoing, so police are still asking anyone with information to call 203 735 1885 or to use an anonymous tip site.
Bailey himself was shot in Ansonia back on June 30, 2022. In that case, two police officers in the area of Liberty Park heard gunshots coming from nearby Third Street.
The officers ran towards the gunfire and found an individual on Third Street that was suffering from several gunshot wounds,” Ansonia Police Chief Wayne Williams said at the time. Police said Bailey was the victim and that the shooter fled the area in a vehicle.
In a prepared statement regarding the June shooting, the chief noted that in general cops were having a hard time getting people to give information, including victims.
Bailey was previously convicted in the 2009 attempted murder of a man on Chapel Street in Derby. In that case, Bailey and two others ambushed the man as he left work, ramming their vehicle into the victim’s vehicle — and then shooting him seven times. The victim survived.
Bailey accepted a plea bargain for that crime: a 20-year sentence, suspended after serving 10 years.
Bailey lived on Olson Drive in Ansonia at the time, and was part of a violent group connected to selling narcotics and shooting people, police said.
An online court database shows Bailey currently has charges pending in Derby for engaging police in pursuit, reckless driving, and interfering with police. Information on those crimes were not available Wednesday night.
