Stolen Car And 2 Ghost Guns Recovered, Man Arrested After Foot Chase: Stamford PD

STAMFORD, CT — Stamford police said they arrested a 20-year-old man Thursday in connection with a stolen vehicle and also recovered two ghost guns in the process.

Khalil Council, of Hamden, was charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, interfering with police, carrying a pistol without a permit, tampering with physical evidence, alteration of a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle, and theft of a marker plate.

On Feb. 5, officers in the patrol division who were just coming on to work around 3 p.m. received information there was a stolen black Toyota parked in the 250-block of Connecticut Avenue in Stamford, according to Assistant Stamford Police Chief Richard Conklin. A stolen license plate out of Hamden was affixed to the vehicle.

Two unidentified men dressed in all black had stolen the vehicle from a food delivery driver around 2:30 a.m. that morning in the area of the 20 block of Main Street, Conklin said. The delivery driver suffered facial injuries as a result.

Rather than seizing the Toyota, officers set up a perimeter and waited to see if anyone would enter it, Conklin said.

Nearly four hours later, a man dressed in black wearing a ski mask, later identified as Council, walked up and got into the car shortly before 7 p.m., Conklin said.

"Once he did that, that started the dominoes falling," Conklin said.

Officers blocked the car in, and Council fled on foot and was seen tossing a gun during a brief pursuit, Conklin said, noting a loaded .40 caliber glock-style "ghost gun" was recovered.

Two men who were in the area also took off running, Conklin said, and a second discarded handgun was recovered in the area.

Investigators are processing the second gun as well as the Toyota, and reviewing pertinent surveillance footage as an investigation continues.

Around 12 officers were involved in the arrest, including several probationary officers fresh out of the Stamford Police Academy.

"This was a very nice job by patrol. They invested time, effort and resources into this. They set it up correctly, they executed perfectly, and took this guy into custody and recovered two ghost guns," Conklin said.

Council's bond was originally set at $150,000, but it was increased to $650,000 during his arraignment on Friday. Conklin noted Council has several pending larceny cases in CT related to stolen vehicles.