Man Threatens Security Guard with AIDS Needle, Then Flees

A man allegedly trying to shoplift items from Home Depot on Dixwell Avenue reportedly bit a security guard and threatened to poke him with a syringe containing the AIDS virus before leading police on a chase into North Haven Monday.

Police received a report of a larceny at the store about 11:30 a.m., police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith said. When officers arrived, they were informed that the man had left the scene in a vehicle and gotten on Route 15 northbound. The entrance to the highway is just down the road from Home Depot.

Deputy Chief Bo Kicak also saw the man, driving a Chevrolet van with Pennsylvania license plates, speed onto the highway, Smith said. The van stopped at officer's direction, Smith said, but when Kicak approached him, it once again took off.

"A short time thereafter, North Haven police found the abandoned vehicle parked in a driveway on Hartford Turnpike," Smith said. "A Hamden police K-9 searched the area with negative results."

The suspect, a light skinned male, allegedly attempted to leave the store with merchandise, Smith said.

"As security approached, the individual bit a security officer and then threatened to stab him with a syringe containing the AIDS virus," he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Hamden detectives at 203-230-4040.