Trumbull man held for betting ring

[clevfan]

Trumbull man held for betting ring

DANIEL TEPFER
2/8/08
Connecticut Post

TRUMBULL — A local gas station owner was arrested yesterday for allegedly running an illegal bookmaking operation.
Joseph Buzzanca, 52, of Nuthatch Hill Road, surrendered at police headquarters after being told there was a warrant for his arrest.

He was charged with gambling, possession of a gambling device and transmission of gambling information.

He was released on a promise to appear Wednesday in Bridgeport Superior Court.

Last September, a task force of local police officers and FBI agents began investigating a tip that Buzzanca was running the bookmaking operation at his home and gas station, Buzz's Mobil on East Main Street in Bridgeport.

Police said the task force used a confidential informant to place several bets, under surveillance, with Buzzanca on professional football games and other sports events. The informant was instructed by Buzzanca to make and receive payments on the bets at the gas station.

On Oct. 1, the task force raided both Buzzanca's home and the gas station.

Officers entering the house found Buzzanca sitting on a couch in the basement wearing a blue tee-shirt and boxer shorts. He was holding a cordless telephone and on his lap was a spiral notebook filed with notes about bets, police said.

The officers also allegedly found gambling records and ledgers in the defendant's bedroom.

However, the raid on the gas station triggered a shootout with a station employee.

When officers approached, John Bell emerged from the back office and was ordered to hold up his hands, police said. However, police said instead Bell pulled a revolver from his waistband and shot at then before he was shot in the arm by officers' return fire.

Bell, a Stratford resident, was arrested for shooting at the officers. His case is pending in federal court.

[victorygallop]

We gas up there all the time.

I wonder why they needed to inform us of his wardrobe upon arrest.

[teazeman]

didn't realize a tee shirt and boxer shorts was a dangerous felon........

[buddyboy]

hmmm going into a gas station and telling the clerk to "hold up" their hands?

it amazes me how cops always pick the most dangerous ways to arrest someone.

why the hell would you burst into someones home to arrest them? unless someones life was already in danger? jesus, just watch the house, when the guy gets in his car have a cop pull him over for a ticket... it's not like they are hunting down bin laudin

[(sportman)]

Thank goodness they got him...

Most dangerous kind of fellow

[Mr Falcone]

Anyone got a line on his players, we can set something up for a % LOL

WTF, just another reason for me to stay outta the States..........My gosh, with what I read in the News these days,

On Oct. 1, the task force raided both Buzzanca's home and the gas station.

Task Force. See part of the prblem in the US thier priorities are all fucked up.......

[stevo]

Gee I'll sleep better

[clevfan]

Stratford man guilty of trying to kill cop

By MICHAEL P. MAYKO
Article Last Updated: 06/17/2008 01:24:46 AM EDT


HARTFORD — A U.S. District Court jury needed only two hours of deliberation Monday to convict a Stratford man for attempting to kill a Trumbull police officer in a shootout during a gambling raid on a Bridgeport gas station last fall.

John Bell, 55, of Ridge Road, Stratford, now faces up to 20 years in prison for shooting at Trumbull Police Officer Scott Murray, a member of the FBI's Safe Street's Task Force, during their Oct. 1, 2007 raid on Buzz's Mobil Gas, 2394 Main St.

Neither Murray nor any other member of the Task Force was wounded in the shooting. Bell was shot in the right arm and left wrist. He said he thought he was being robbed.

In addition to the attempted murder charge, the jury convicted Bell of assaulting, resisting or impeding Murray in the performance of his duties and using a .44 caliber Taurus in a crime of violence.

Bell was not found guilty on a charge of attempted murder of Trumbull Police Detective. Kevin Hammel. Hammel accompanied Murray when the pair approached the office door at about 8:30 p.m. The officers said they yelled "police with a search warrant" before the shooting occurred.

Following the shooting, Bell, a station employee, told a State Police trooper he was drinking a can of beer and counting cigarettes when he saw a man run through the front door. Bell said he aimed his gun at the man and several shots were fired before he retreated behind an oil rack, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Mark Lauer.

Once behind the rack, Bell said he could see a police cruiser and a uniformed Bridgeport police officer in the lot and decided to surrender, according to Lauer's affidavit.
A subsequent toxicology test determined Bell had a blood alcohol level of .12. In Connecticut, a person over 21 years of age is considered legally intoxicated when the blood alcohol level reaches .08.

Senior U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello presided over Bell's trial which began June 10. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Gustafson and Tracy Lee Dayton.

Bell still faces state charges stemming from the shooting. Those include first-degree assault; assault on a peace officer; reckless endangerment and unlawful discharge of a firearm.

"Those charges are still pending," said Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney John Smriga.

The shooting occurred while members of the Task Force, which includes local police and FBI agents, were serving search warrants on Buzz's Mobil Gas. The station is owned by Joseph Buzzanca, of Nuthatch Hill Road, Trumbull.

Buzzanca was charged with gambling; possession of a gambling device; and transmission of gambling information.

Task Force members believe Buzzanca was running a bookmaking operation out of his home and gas station. They used an informant to place bets on sporting events with Buzzanca, according to police.

[clevfan]

Prosecutors drop home gambling charges

DANIEL TEPFER
Article Last Updated: 07/25/2008
connpost.com

BRIDGEPORT — Charges were dropped Thursday against a Trumbull man who, with his father, had been accused of running an illegal gambling operation from their home and two gas stations.
State prosecutors nolled charges of illegal gambling and possession of gambling devices against Joseph Buzzanca Jr., 22. His father, 52-year-old Joseph Buzzanca, was granted accelerated rehabilitation on the same charges.

The two men, of Nuthatch Hill Road, are owners of the Buzz's gas stations in Bridgeport and Branford.

Under a nolle, the state can bring up the charges within 13 months or they are automatically dismissed. Under accelerated rehabilitation the defendant doesn't plead guilty to the charges, but is placed on two years probation. If he commits no other crimes during the probation the charges are dismissed.

As a condition of the nolle, the younger Buzzanca agreed to contribute $5,000 to the state victims' fund.

"Both father and son are happy with the ultimate outcome of their cases," said Frank Riccio Jr., the Buzzancas' lawyer.

Last September, a task force of local police officers and FBI agents began investigating a tip that the senior Buzzanca was running the bookmaking operation at his home and gas station, Buzz's Mobil on East Main Street, in Bridgeport. Police said the task force used a confidential informant to place several bets with Buzzanca, under surveillance, on professional football games and other sports events. The informant was instructed by Buzzanca to make and receive payments on the bets at the gas station. On Oct. 1, the task force raided both Buzzancas' home and the gas station.
Officers entering the house found the senior Buzzanca sitting on a couch in the basement, holding a cordless telephone and on his lap was a spiral notebook filled with notes about bets, police said.

Officers and agents subsequently searched the junior Buzzanca's bedroom and found gambling records, police said.

In June, John Bell, 55, of Ridge Road, Stratford, who worked for the Buzzancas at their Bridgeport gas station, was convicted by a federal jury of attempting to kill a Trumbull police officer in a shootout during the raid on the gas station last October.

Bell was shot in the right arm and left wrist after he fired at officers. He faces 20 years in prison.