The Bloomfield man shot and killed by New Britain police last week was an aspiring rapper who called himself “Gangstalicious” and had built a substantial following on YouTube, an attorney who knew him said Sunday.
Hartford attorney Wesley Spears said he was shocked to learn how 20-year-old Zoe Dowdell had died. Dowdell was behind the wheel of a car suspected in multiple carjackings and robberies when he struck police vehicles and drove toward officers in an attempt to flee as they tried to stop him, police have said. Officers opened fire, killing Dowdell and wounding 18-year-old and 15-year-old passengers.
Spears represented Dowdell’s co-defendant in two criminal cases and recently represented an entertainment management company that was considering signing Dowdell to a contract, he said.
The two criminal cases where Spears had run across Dowdell included an incident at a Dunkin’ Donuts in
Wethersfield where he and a friend, who Spears represented, were arrested after they jumped up on the counter to film a viral video and another case where the two men stole credit cards out of unlocked cars and used them to make purchases.
http://www.courant.com/breaking-new...ting-gangstalicious-dead-20171217-story.html#
New Britain Police Chief James Wardwell and Mayor Erin Stewart met with the media late Thursday to discuss an officer-involved shooting that left one dead and two others with non-life threatening injuries.
Glastonbury police used a clever ruse to arrest Dowdell on the credit card charges: A detective pretended to be a record producer and set up a meeting with Dowdell where he was taken into custody.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of harsh criminals,” Spears said. “He was not a hardened criminal. He was very lightweight in terms of being forceful or aggressive.”
But Spears said Dowdell “associated himself to a certain extent with the wrong people,” so while he doesn’t believe Dowdell participated in the carjackings or robberies, he understands how he may have wound up driving the wanted car.
Spears was critical of the police response Thursday night in New Britain after officers spotted the vehicle. The young men should not have tried to flee police, he said, but he questioned whether the officers’ lives were in danger to the point where they had to open fire on the car.
does this mean that thugnificent and the lethal interjection crew ultimately won? So they can come out of retirement & working legit jobs & get back in the booth right?
