STABBING VICTIM DIES
A stabbing victim in New London has passed away and that means upgraded charges against the alleged killer. Police say the man who was stabbed on Brainard Street yesterday afternoon passed away just before two o’clock this morning. Police have changed an attempted murder charge against Christopher Petteway to murder. He’ll be arraigned today in New London. The victim’s identity still has not been released. Police say the stabbing appeared to be a domestic incident and that the two involved knew each other.
REELS DEFENDS CIG SALES
Kenny Reels owns a tiny convenience store on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation. He’s being investigated but says he pays taxes on Marlboros and Newports, the cigarettes he sells. The former tribal council chairman who served the tribe during Foxwoods Resort Casino’s heyday said he didn’t pay taxes on other cigarettes in his store, the ones manufactured and distributed by federally recognized Indian tribes. Reels believes the sovereign status of those tribes exempts their products from state taxes. The state disagrees. But, it could take weeks for the investigation to be completed. Reels’ attorney said his client firmly believes he has complied with all state laws and requirements.
PORT AUTHORITY WANTS CRYSTAL AVE PROPERTY
The Connecticut Port Authority has identified itself as the second party showing interest in purchasing the vacant Crystal Avenue property in New London. It comes a week after a waste disposal, construction and demolition company announced its own proposal for the city-owned property, which is viewed as a potential economic driver and companion site to the nearby State Pier.
WOMAN PLUNGES INTO RIVER
The New London Fire Department responded to reports of a woman in the water next to the Custom House Pier around 9:30 last night. When firefighters got there, they found the woman very cold and hypothermic. On the way to the hospital, she told them her daughter was with her. Fire officials were preparing for a second person in the water but then learned the woman’s daughter had died years ago. The name of the woman was not released nor her condition or how she fell in the water.
AQUARIUM GETS GRANT
The parent company of the Mystic Aquarium has received a $2.25 million federal grant to help fund its science, technology, engineering and math mentoring program for the next three years. The grant will allow the Mystic Aquarium to continue working with youth-serving organizations throughout the United States to not only provide young people with caring mentors but also engage them in meaningful conservation actions within their own communities.
DEALER SENTENCED IN OD DEATH
A 27-year-old East Lyme man will serve 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for selling heroin with fentanyl that led to the June 2016, overdose death of Fred Pardini. Christopher Stevens had pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of heroin. Police found Pardini dead and slumped over the steering wheel of a car with his cellphone nearby and with his 3-year-old son sleeping in a car seat in the back seat. Investigators used phone records to confirm Stevens had arranged to meet with Pardini and sell him drugs in the hours before Pardini’s death.
