New Bedford Police Make Arrest in Rockdale Ave. Shooting

NEW BEDFORD — New Bedford Police have made an arrest in connection with the February 22 shooting incident in which the driver of a vehicle opened fire on another vehicle on Rockdale Avenue.

On March 23, New Bedford Police detectives arrested Armani Reyes, 20, of New Bedford and charged him with assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, several firearms offenses and a motor vehicle offense.

Police noted that detectives had previously attempted to stop Reyes for a traffic violation on March 6, but he fled the scene.

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WBSM’s Barry Richard, through a source, obtained video of the February 22 incident captured by a dashcam on a vehicle traveling behind the two vehicles involved in the incident. In the video, a dark-colored car passed vehicles by crossing into the opposite lane and inserted itself in front of a white SUV at about 2:40 p.m. on Rockdale Avenue, near the intersection with Hawthorn Street.

The SUV then attempted to cut hard to the left and get around that dark-colored vehicle, striking another vehicle that was coming up in the left lane, and as the SUV was trying to go forward, the dark-colored vehicle pulled alongside it, with the driver’s side window down and the driver extended a gun out the window, firing on the SUV. The person in the vehicle that captured the footage shouted, “He’s got a f---ing gun in his hand! He’s got a f---ing gun in his hand!”

The white SUV then sped away through the upcoming intersection, while the dark-colored vehicle turned eastward at that same intersection.

Police say they received a call following the incident reporting shots fired between two vehicles in the area of Rockdale Avenue and Hawthorn Street. They say no injuries were reported, and an investigation was immediately launched into the incident and Reyes was identified as a suspect.

According to police, Reyes is now being held without bail at the Ash Street Jail.