Cops: Man shoots fleeing car thief

BRIDGEPORT — A licensed gun owner has been charged with first-degree assault after he allegedly shot a fleeing suspect.

The incident occurred on Dover Street at about 10:15 p.m. Sunday night, police said, when the gun owner confronted a man who had stolen his wife’s car.

“The gun owner tried to hold the perpetrator at gunpoint, but he fled on foot,’’ Capt. Brian Fitzgerald said Monday morning. “The gun owner fired at the perpetrator and struck him in the arm.

“The perpetrator was transported to Bridgeport Hospital and was charged with larceny,’’ the Bridgeport police captain said. “The gun owner was charged with assault first due to the circumstances surrounding the shooting.’’

The names of the two men involved were not immediately available.