Police: Suspect recently released from prison accused of armed robbery at Trumbull park
Giovanni DeJesus, 19, was arrested for the New Year’s Eve incident on the Rails to Trails area of Pequonnock River Valley Park, police said.
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A Bridgeport teen accused of robbing a 14-year-old boy of his dirt bike at gunpoint got out of prison a few days before the incident, according to Trumbull police.
Giovanni DeJesus, 19, was arrested for the New Year’s Eve incident on the Rails to Trails area of Pequonnock River Valley Park, police said.
Officers responded there around 5 p.m. and said it happened near the pump station, where the boy was riding his dirt bike. The victim told police he was approached by a group of people on dirt bikes, then one of them - DeJesus - pointed a gun at him and ordered him off the bike before fleeing with it.
On Thursday morning, pieces of police tape from the investigation remained in the area. One walker was stunned to learn the reason why.
“Very surprising to hear this. Very surprising,” said Don Pulio, of Bridgeport, who’s at the park on a regular basis. “I come here three, four times a week at least, and I usually walk about an hour and a half. But I've never experienced anything bad here.”
Police said DeJesus was spotted shortly after the incident on Palisade Avenue in Bridgeport and taken into custody. They said he’s a convicted felon and on the state’s Deadly Weapon Offender.
According to court records, DeJesus was convicted of criminal possession of a firearm and illegal alteration of a firearm's identification mark in June 2023. He received a suspended sentence of two years in prison, followed by three years’ probation and had just been released.
Police said they recovered a handgun from DeJesus that was fitted with a “switch” device on the slide, making it fully automatic, and a 30-round extended magazine. They also seized dozens of rounds of ammunition, police said.
They’re continuing to investigate where the weapon originated.
“Wow, I’ve never heard of anything bad happening here, and I talk to a lot of people who are regular walkers. Hopefully, it's just a freak thing that happened,” Pulio told News 12.
Police said they later found the stolen dirt bike in the basement of DeJesus' home in Bridgeport and returned it to the owner.
DeJesus is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree larceny, illegal possession of an assault weapon, criminal possession of a pistol, illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine, carrying a pistol without a permit and criminal possession of ammunition. His bond was set at $300,000, according to police.
