Moped Operator Waved Gun In Air, Gets Arrested: Hamden Police

HAMDEN, CT — A moped operator faces several charges after police said he was found to be in the possession of a stolen gun after leading officers on a chase Thursday in Hamden.

A patrol officer was flagged down by a concerned citizen around 6:30 p.m. in the area of Morse Street and Saint Mary’s Street, according to Sgt. Angela Vey.

The citizen said that he just saw a man on a moped traveling on Morse Street while waving a gun in the air, according to Vey.

The officer immediately saw a moped traveling in his direction and tried to conduct a motor vehicle stop, but Vey said the operator refused to stop.

“The moped traveled a short distance maintaining a slow speed, eventually turning the wrong way down Goodrich Street,” Vey wrote in a news release.

The moped operator then drove into bushes in front of a home in the 100 block of Goodrich Street and ran down the driveway “holding his waistband with both hands,” according to Vey.

Vey said the operator, later identified as Jaishawn Richardson, ran around the rear of the house, and back out on to Goodrich Street, where he was found and taken into custody.

The New Haven Police Shooting Task Force was in the area and assisted with the investigation, according to Vey.

Officers then found a 9mm handgun in the rear of a home on Goodrich Street, according to Vey.

Vey said the gun was later determined to be reported stolen.

Richardson was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm, theft of a firearm, interfering with an officer, engaging police in a pursuit and breach of peace. Richardson was held in lieu of a $250,000 bond with a court date of July 20.