Naugatuck Police Seek Suspect in Stabbing

Editor's Note: This article first appeared on Naugatuck Patch.

Naugatuck police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating a man accused of several times in the borough’s downtown on July 30.

Police hold an active arrest warrant for Joseph Gay, 32, for charges of first-degree assault and procuring liquor for a minor in connection with the stabbing of a 16-year-old boy who was found laying on the road at the corner of Rubber Avenue and Church Street on that Monday night nearly two weeks ago. 

Police believe Gay, a convicted felon who has spent time in prison, stabbed the teen several times in an apartment on Barnum Court, a small side road between Church and Meadow Streets that has about eight apartment buildings. It is unclear how the teenager ended up in the middle of the road, though it is believed he escaped from the apartment and ran down the road before collapsing at the intersection. Gay is believed to have fled town shortly after the incident. 

Police stated in a news release Friday night that the teen has been released from the hospital and is recovering. He was treated for multiple stab wounds at Waterbury Hospital and Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, police said.

Police say their warrant is extraditable nationwide. They are asking anyone has seen Gay or knows his whereabouts to contact the Naugatuck Police Department’s Detective Division at (203) 729-7106.

Anonymous tips can be left on the department’s tip line at (203) 720-1010 or by visiting the department’s website here.

Gay has a criminal background, but has no history of violent crime. In July 2009, he was sentenced to 14 months in prison for possession of narcotics after being arrested by Bridgeport Police, according to the state's Judicial Branch. He also has pending cases for possession of marijuana and operating a motor vehicle under a suspended license.