Bridgeport Man Involved in Drive-By Shooting Sentenced to 6 Years in Federal Prison

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that RASHAD DANCY, 26, of Bridgeport, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 72 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm.

 According to court documents and statements made in court, in the afternoon of May 5, 2014, Bridgeport Police responded to a report of shots fired in front of house on Shelton Street, during which a resident of house was nearly struck.  Witnesses reported the gunfire came from a red Ford Fusion, and subsequent analysis of surveillance camera videos confirmed the reports.  Officers also recovered several 7.62x39 ammunition casings at the scene.

Police then located a red Ford Fusion on Willow Street and saw DANCY enter the car and drive away.  Officers stopped the car, questioned DANCY and recovered a spent rifle cartridge head stamped “762x39.”  DANCY then consented to a search of his residence, where officers seized a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, as well as drug packaging materials.

The investigation revealed that DANCY had rented a red Ford Fusion in April 2014 and, that on May 2, 2014, a friend of DANCY’s had been shot and killed during an altercation at a Danbury  nightclub.  The Shelton Street residence where the drive-by shooting occurred was the home to individuals who were involved in an altercation at that nightclub on May 2.

DANCY’s criminal history includes convictions related to trafficking heroin and marijuana.  It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

DANCY has been detained since his arrest on May 5, 2014.  On March 2, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.

This matter was investigated by the Bridgeport Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.