A truck belonging to an Army recruiter was stolen in Hartford on Wednesday during a recruitment event before the driver fled after striking multiple police cruisers during a pursuit in East Hartford.
The owner of the blue Dodge pickup truck, a government-issued vehicle, was tracking the stolen truck when officers were alerted that it was in East Hartford, according to Officer Marc Caruso of the East Hartford Police Department.
The vehicle was found by police in the 400 block of Main Street. When officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver backed into multiple cruisers and took off, Caruso said.
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No injuries were reported.
Police engaged in a short pursuit, according to Caruso.
The truck was later found in Manchester, where the driver took off on foot and could not immediately be found, Caruso said.
Caruso said the pickup truck had initially been stolen at an Army recruitment event in Hartford. Police are still investigating.
Atlanta-based filmmaker and Hartford native Rafia Ansari debuted her short film House of Terror at the Urban Film Festival in Miami on Saturday, marking the world premiere of a project that has been nearly a decade in the making.
The film screened at Silver Spot Cinemas in downtown Miami. Inspired by Nollywood, House of Terror explores the issue of baby factories in Nigeria and highlights the power of prayer. Ansari wrote, directed, acted in and produced the film.
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“I do not believe in the word can’t,” Ansari said. “It was instilled in me as a child by my great-grandmother, Ella Little Cromwell. She always said, ‘You can do anything you put your mind to.’”
Ansari began developing the project in 2017 after moving to Atlanta in 2013 to pursue a career in film. Two earlier attempts to complete the film stalled, but in 2024 she connected with Josh Broaden, a video engineer for the Wall Street Journal and a filmmaker. With Broaden as director of photography, House of Terrorwrapped production in September 2024.
Her inspiration for the project dates back to childhood. Cromwell frequently traveled to Africa and returned with artifacts and stories, which sparked Ansari’s interest. She also participated in African dance programs and cultural activities in her hometown of Hartford. A high school assignment led her to research Nigeria, where she first learned about baby factories and sex trafficking — subjects that became central to her film.
House of Terror is currently on the festival circuit. Ansari said she has additional screenplays in development and is working on her next production through her company Write on Rafia, which she founded in 2020.
A former Michigan police chief who was charged with stealing narcotics from her department and planning to sell them was sentenced on Monday to 40 months to 20 years in prison.
Tressa Beltran was chief of the Hartford Police Department when she stole the drugs in 2022.
Beltran retired in January 2023 and was charged in May 2023.
“Today’s sentence delivered a clear message that no one is above the law,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office filed the charges, said in a written statement. “I commend the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office for their diligent investigative efforts that led to the removal of Ms. Beltran from her position as police chief, ensuring she could no longer jeopardize public health. My office will continue to pursue public integrity and hold accountable those who abuse their positions of power.”
In April, Beltran admitted she had drugs with the intent of delivering them and said she used a computer to arrange the delivery. She pleaded guilty to one count each of delivery or possession with the intent to deliver less than 50 grams of a controlled substance and use of a computer to commit a crime.
Beltran also is prohibited from serving in law enforcement again.
Detectives from the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Beltran after receiving several tips in the summer of 2022 that she was stealing drugs from a disposal box at the police department. As part of the investigation, detectives marked two bottles of hydrocodone, an addictive painkiller, in the drug disposal box and found that some of the pills went missing.
A University of Connecticut student has died after he was shot during an attempted marijuana robbery in Hartford on Tuesday night, according to police.
Officers were called to High Street at Walnut Street around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night after getting a report of a crash.
When police arrived, emergency crews said they found a man, later identified as 18-year-old Zaid Deje Langs-Myers, of Windsor, with gunshot wounds outside of the vehicle.
Langs-Myers was transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Police said Lang-Myers was a UConn student.
“I hear he was a UConn student. Yeah. I also believe that he’s never been in trouble before. So unfortunate,” Lt. Aaron Boisvert, of the Hartford Police Department, said.
“It’s horrible, it’s horrible. It’s horrible when anybody dies. This is [homicide] number 12 for the year,” Boisvert added.
At the crash scene, authorities said there was quite a bit of marijuana around the vehicle. Police believe the robbery of marijuana was the motive for the shooting.
A passenger who was in the vehicle was not harmed and has spoken with police.
Investigators said they used the cameras to backtrack the vehicle and determined it had been on Brook Street prior to the crash.
“To be honest with you, in this case the camera system helped pretty well with that. The officers were able to get over there quickly and establish where this shooting actually occurred,” Boisvert said.
The continued slower pace of home sales gives buyers more time to decide if a house is right for … [+] them.
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The supply of homes for sale rose at a record annual pace for the sixth month in a row, up 67.8% year over year in February, signaling the housing market’s continued rebalancing, according to a recent housing trend survey. Despite the significant increase in inventory over last year’s record lows, home prices are still growing, albeit at a slower pace of 7.8% over last February, a sign of still-high hopes from sellers entering the market.
In a market with conditions that don’t particularly favor buyers or sellers, both will likely have to make compromises to make a deal happen. As mortgage rates continue to fluctuate and increase the cost of buying a home, it’s important for sellers to price their home appropriately to attract buyers in the market. For buyers, it’s critical they make the best offer they can on a home that fits their needs and budget.
“The number of homes for sale on the market is up significantly from a year ago, even though fewer homeowners have listed their home for sale in recent months,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com, adding that high home prices and mortgage rates continue to cut into buyer interest and homes are taking more than three weeks longer to sell than last year.
She explained, “With a smaller pool of buyers today and more competition from other homes on the market, home sellers will likely need to adjust their price expectations in the market this spring.”
“For many, shopping for a new home often begins or picks up as we head into the warmer months, which is right around the corner,” said Clare Trapasso, executive news editor at Realtor.com. “Potential buyers looking to take advantage of more homes to choose from and a less competitive pace also have more negotiating power than they did a year ago. So if a home has been on the market a while without receiving any offers, they may want the seller to contribute to their closing costs, make expensive repairs, or even buy down their mortgage rate.”
The supply of homes for sale continued to rise in February at a record annual pace, driven mostly by low interest from buyers facing high home and mortgage costs rather than an influx of new homes for sale to the market. Despite a significant increase in the number of homes for sale in recent months as existing home sales and demand slow, there are still fewer homes available to buy nationwide on a typical day than there were a few years ago.
In February, the supply of active listings for sale rose at a record annual pace for the sixth month in a row, up 67.8% compared to last year, but it is still well below pre-pandemic levels (-47.4% compared to the February 2017-2019 average). Both newly-listed homes (-15.9%) and pending listings, or homes under contract with a buyer (-24.7%), declined year-over-year.
Across the 50 largest metros, the number of homes for sale was up 86% compared to last February, with the most growth in active listings in the South (+141.4%).
Among the 50 largest U.S. metros, 49 markets saw active inventory gains in February compared to last year, but only Las Vegas,Austin, Texas, and San Antonio saw higher levels of inventory compared to typical February 2017–2019 levels. Hartford, Conn. (-8.8%) was the only metro to see inventory decline on a year-over-year basis.
Six metros saw the number of newly listed homes increase over last year, led by Raleigh, North Carolina (+14.8%), Dallas (+10.3%) and San Antonio (+10.2%). The largest yearly decline in newly listed homes were in western metros, including San Jose, California (-43.3%), San Francisco (-39.4%), and Seattle (-36.8%).
Home price growth continues to level off as more sellers drop their asking price
While home prices were up in February compared to last year, year-over-year asking price growth has remained in the single digits for three months in a row, suggesting that home prices are continuing to moderate and cool down from last year’s record highs. While mortgage rates are down from their November highs, rates rebounded this month and with higher home prices compared to last February, the typical monthly mortgage payment is roughly $630 more than it was a year ago. As a result of these cost pressures, the slowdown in the demand for homes means more than twice as many sellers cut their asking price in February compared to last year.
The median listing price was $415,000 in February, up from $406,000 in January, and 7.8% higher than a year ago.
Among the 50 largest metros, the biggest annual listing price gains were in Midwest metros (+11.9%, on average). The metros with the biggest asking price increases were Milwaukee (+48.8%), Memphis (+42.7%), and Virginia Beach (+16.3%); however, in these metros the mix of inventory also changed and more larger, expensive homes are for sale today.
In February, 13% of active listings had their price reduced, up from 5.4% a year ago. Southern metros (+10.3 percentage points) saw the largest increase in the share of listings with price reductions.
Listing prices declined in eight markets, led by Austin (-8.0% year-over-year), New Orleans (-7.0%), and Pittsburgh (-6.9%). In those markets, the median price per square foot also declined on a yearly basis, signaling that price declines weren’t from a rise in smaller homes for sale but by sellers adjusting their expectations and sales price.
Homes take three weeks longer to sell than last year
The housing market has cooled considerably since the height of the pandemic, when buyer demand outmatched the record low supply of homes for sale and bidding wars were common. In February, homes took more than three weeks longer to sell than they did at this time last year, despite an uptick in buyer sentiment in January. The continued slower pace of home sales signals a return to a more balanced housing market and what was considered normal before the pandemic, and it gives buyers more time to decide if a house is right for them.
The typical home spent 67 days on market in February, 23 days longer than this time last year, but still 20 days faster than in February 2017-2019, on average.
Relative to the national pace, time on market was lower across the 50 largest U.S. metros in February (56 days, on average) and was 19 days slower than the February 2022 pace.
Compared to last year, 47 out of 50 metros saw an increase in time on market with larger metros in the West seeing the greatest increase (+26 days). Austin, Texas (+52 days), Raleigh, North Carolina. (+51 days), and Las Vegas and Denver (+38 days) saw the greatest increases in time on market.
Only one market saw shrinking time on market, and two were unchanged from last year: Hartford (-2 days), Cincinnati (+0 days) and Buffalo (+0 days).
HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – A convicted sex offender was able to get inside of an elementary school in Hartford.
According to an incident report, Alexander Robles got into Sarah Rawson Elementary School through an open door near the school’s loading dock.
It happened Tuesday shortly after 9:30 a.m.
Robles was first spotted inside the school by cafeteria workers.
The school safety officer found him and asked why he was there. Robles said he was in the school to use the bathroom.
Robles was instructed to leave.
He was found by an officer walking along Blue Hills Avenue, where he was arrested.
Hartford Public Schools released a statement on the incident:
“I think it’s really scary with all that’s going on,” said Alanna Johnson, a Hartford parent.
Robles was arrested in 1996 for sexual assault and released from prison in 1999 but was arrested again in 2006 on 3 counts of sexual assault.
“This building should be more secure,” said Milly Arciniegas, a Hartford parent. “Absolutely they should really look into their security protocols and work with parents.”
“Us as parents deserve to know our children are safe and protected while they are in school. They shouldn’t have to worry that a sex offender is getting into the school,” said Alanna.
Robles was charged with trespassing. He also has a failure to appear in his criminal record.
The Hartford PTO is planning to bring this to the school board’s attention at the next meeting.
Refresh this page and watch Eyewitness News for updates.
BRISTOL, Conn. — Two police officers were fatally shot and a third wounded in Connecticut, state police said Thursday.
The officers were shot in Bristol, about 15 miles southwest of Hartford, state police said, and the wounded officer was reported to have “serious injuries.”
Additional details, including when the officers were shot and the circumstances of the shooting, weren’t immediately released. State police said a news conference would be held as soon as possible.
“We ask your thoughts and prayers be with the families, the officer and all those impacted,” state police said on Twitter.
HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – A woman who lives in Hartford was traveling to the Dominican Republic last month at seven months pregnant when her water broke mid-flight.
Kendria Rhoden named her son Skylen because of where he made his debut.
“Everything just happened so fast, it just happened so quick,” Rhoden said.
With another 6 weeks until her due date, which was Oct. 23, Kendria’s little boy came into the world on an airplane early September.
“While I was asleep I felt someone kick me in my stomach and then my water broke,” Rhoden said.
Nurses on board came to help, but it didn’t take long for her to deliver her baby.
“They were like ‘oh don’t push, don’t push because we don’t see any head,’” Rhoden said. “I’m like ‘the babies coming!’”
Skylen and his mom spent the last few weeks in the Dominican Republic where they faced some difficulties. However, they returned and the baby was in the hospital for a evaluation.
“I feel good now because I’m home and he’s safe, he’s where he needs to be right now,” Rhoden said. “So, I would say I’m happier than I was in the Dominican Republic.”
Skylen’s passport said he is a citizen of the U.S. and lists his place as birth as “in the air.”
A woman who lives in Hartford was traveling to the Dominican Republic last month at seven months pregnant when her water broke mid-flight.
“Everything just happened so fast, it just happened so quick,” Kendra explained.
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