Police believe this morning’s stabbing in a bar’s parking lot on Hawkins Street is related to another stabbing on the block that happened in May. Police said they expect to make an arrest shortly.
A 19-year-old man was stabbed several times in the lot outside Over the Hill Tavern, a venerable watering hole at 131 Hawkins St. known for its peanuts and pasta sauce.
Police and EMS crews were called to the scene at 12:55 a.m.
The man, an Ansonia resident whose identity was not released, was not a patron of the bar. As of 10:15 a.m., he was under sedation at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he’s in stable condition.
Lt. Justin Stanko said a preliminary interview has led police to believe the stabbing is in retaliation to a stabbing from two months ago.
In that case, a 19-year-old man was stabbed several times after a dispute involving a large group of people on Hawkins. The victim was able to walk down Hawkins Street to Mr. D’s, a store, to call for help. A short time later, a house near the scene was shot up.
“The connection is retaliation,” Stanko said.
“The evidence is showing this is a quarrel between two groups of people. All the evidence shows that the victim was stabbed in the front parking lot of Over the Hill Tavern. He was not a patron of the bar. He was in the parking lot. Whether he was walking by or … he was assaulted with a knife. He went into the bar and asked them to call 911. They did,” Stanko said.
Police are not sure how many people were involved in the assault. There were no witnesses. Police are waiting for the victim to come out of sedation so they can interview him.
Police wouldn’t say how many times or where on his body he was stabbed.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the department at 203 735‑7811.
This is the latest in a series of violent crimes in the small, densely populated neighborhood.
In June, a woman was shot in what police called a drive-by shooting. She survived.
That drive-by happened a few hours after a brawl near the intersection on Anson and Hawkins street.
Police at the time of the brawl and the drive-by were investigating whether all the violence was connected to two warring families on the block. Those crimes are not connected to the May and July stabbings, Stanko said.
The spat of violence caused Ken Hughes, president of the Board of Aldermen, to suggest that the city consider imposing a curfew on young people in the Hawkins and Anson street area.
The idea wasn’t discussed at the most recent Board of Aldermen meeting, although Mayor Anthony Staffieri said it is still under consideration.
Residents in the neighborhood had a mixed reaction to the idea.
Hughes said preliminary research showed a curfew in Vernon was found to be unconstitutional.
The task force is made up of a number of city departments, including police, the fire marshal, even the school district.
The idea is to target things like illegal apartments, over-crowded housing and absentee landlords in an effort to address underlying issues in the neighborhood.
