New Britain Man Shot At Family’s Vehicle On CT Highway: Police

NEW BRITAIN, CT — A city man is accused of shooting at and hitting a family’s vehicle on Route 9 earlier this month in a targeted attack.

No one was injured in the June 6 incident, though the family’s vehicle was hit. Two adults and two young children were inside at the time, state police said.

Police arrested Angel Manuel Cruz, 33, of New Britain, on a warrant on June 18.

Cruz is charged with criminal attempt to commit first-degree assault, first-degree reckless endangerment, two counts of risk of injury to a minor, unlawful discharge of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, and criminal possession of a firearm.

The incident happened around 7:24 p.m. on June 6 on Route 9 South near Exit 38 in New Britain, police said.

A man called police, telling them he was getting shot at by a BMW on the highway, and he identified Cruz as the shooter, the arrest warrant shows.

The caller was the passenger in a Honda CRV. His wife was driving and the couple’s two young children, ages 3 and 8, were in the back seat, according to the warrant.

The couple later told police Cruz’s vehicle drove alongside the left side of their vehicle and then Cruz fired two rounds at them. The wife started swerving due to panic and to try to dodge the bullets, according to the couple’s statement. She told investigators she focused on “not crashing into any guardrails,” and accelerated away.

They got off the highway at Exit 37 to get away, while Cruz remained on the highway. The family then drove to the police station in New Britain to report what happened, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

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Troopers saw an entry bullet hole on the lower left rear door of the family’s vehicle. There was a hole through the door and into the lower frame area of the vehicle, the warrant shows.

Cruz and the male passenger know each other and had been having issues in the past year, according to the warrant. The man told police it wasn’t his first run-in with Cruz, and he told them Cruz had previously pulled up beside him on the roadway and pulled a firearm out in May.

Cruz was arraigned in Superior Court in New Britain on Monday. He is due back in court on July 6.