Community Corner
Shooting Defendant Acted 'Foolishly' Says Lawyer
Stamford residents who fired stray bullets that hit houses in Stony Creek appear in court.
The lawyer for one of the men charged with that hit a in Stony Creek said today that his client was acting foolishly and feels bad for what happened.
Donald Cretella, lawyer for Michael V. Chioffe, 30, of 221 Main St., Stamford, spoke outside the New Haven Courthouse today where Chioffe and co-defendant Durbin R. Hunter, 35, of the same address, appeared before Superior Court Judge Susan A. Connors.
The judge continued the cases until July 27 on a special court docket for weapons charges.
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Chioffe and Hunter declined to comment for reporters at the courthouse.
The three Stamford residents were arrested by Branford Police on June 25 after a Prospect Hill Road resident reported that a bullet had pierced a window and lodged in an interior wall in his house.
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Bullets might also have hit an adjoining house; there are several holes in the back wall of the house.
The three Stamford residents were charged with reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm and third degree criminal mischief.
Police said they were found on the front porch of a house on one of the Thimble Islands with a .22 rifle. They had been taking target practice at an object in the water, but bullets hit residences on shore in the same direction as their target.
Cretella said the .22 rifle had been purchased the day prior to the incident.
He said Chioffe had never been in trouble before and feels bad about what happened.
Cretella said he would ask for the court to approve accelerated rehabilitation for his client. That means he pleads guilty, but the conviction is expunged after a year.
