Angry call from girlfriend prompts gunfire in downtown Stamford

Ralph Battinelli, 26, of Stamford, was charged Wednesday night with firing his gun illegally downtown. Ralph Battinelli, 26, of Stamford, was charged Wednesday night with firing his gun illegally downtown. Photo: Stamford Police / Contributed Photo: Stamford Police / Contributed Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Angry call from girlfriend prompts gunfire in downtown Stamford 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

STAMFORD — A city man was arrested downtown on Wednesday night for allegedly firing his gun after getting into a spat with his girlfriend.

Sgt. Jennifer Lynch said at 10:53 p.m., 911 dispatch got a call about someone hearing a single shot being fired in the area of Washington Boulevard near the corner of Hoyt Street.

Officer Heather Frank was nearby and while looking for witnesses to the gunplay saw a pickup truck speed out of Court Street and onto Washington Boulevard at a high rate of speed.

Frank pulled the vehicle over and saw that the driver, Ralph Battinelli, 26, of Amhearst Place, was wearing a holster with 9 mm Glock semiautomatic pistol tucked in it.

Capt. Richard Conklin said that Battinelli at first said he didn’t know anything about the shot being fired. But when pressed, Battinelli, who is a landscaper, admitted to having just had a fight with his girlfriend over the phone. He said that he was at his landscaping yard on nearby Court Street when the volatile conversation took place and he admitted to walking outside with his gun and in anger firing it into a pile of debris.

Police went to the landscaping yard and recovered the shell casing, Conklin said.

Conklin said that Battinelli had a permit to carry his pistol that was issued to him in February of this year. Battinelli’s permit to carry was taken from him as well as the Glock and another revolver, which was also licensed to him.

He was charged with illegal discharge of a firearm, reckless endangerment and traveling at an unreasonable speed for conditions.

Battinelli was released after posting a $5,000 court appearance bond.

jnickerson@scni.com;