Ansonia police arrested two Oxford men Wednesday morning after a witness alleged one of them walked into a gas station with a gun sticking out of his clothes.
No weapon was recovered.
A clerk at the Great Hill Shell station called police just before 10 a.m. reporting that a man had entered the store in possession of a handgun, according to a press release from Lt. Andrew Cota of the Ansonia Police Department.
The clerk described a vehicle the man had left in, which police stopped on Route 8 north near exit 22. Officers found two men inside the vehicle, and searched both of them, but did not find a weapon.
“Officers learned that the male had walked into the store and that the clerk of the store saw a gun sticking out of the pocket of the male’s sweatshirt,” the press release said. “The male paid for gas and then left the building and the clerk locked the door and called police.”
Because police couldn’t find the gun in the car, they searched the area around Route 8 but were unsuccessful in locating the firearm, the press release said.
Police charged one of the men, a 38-year-old Chestnut Tree Hill Road resident, with disorderly conduct and released him on a promise to appear in Superior Court in Derby Nov. 14.
The second man, Dale Russo, 31, of the same Oxford address, was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under suspension and possession of heroin. He was held in lieu of $5,000 bond to be arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Thursday (Nov. 1).
No one answered the phone at Russo’s listed address Thursday morning.
A low-flying helicopter was spotted all over the Valley as police dealt with the van on Route 8. However, that helicopter wasn’t connected to the police activity. It was a utility company checking for damaged utility lines from Superstorm Sandy.
