November 12 – A 42-year-old former Norwich man, previously convicted for his part in a cocaine and heroin smuggling ring, has rejected an offer to serve 12 years in prison for his alleged role in a Norwich bar shooting last year .
David Sullivan, whose records show he is free on a $100 bond, appeared in New London Superior Court on Tuesday to reject prosecutors’ offer and opted to take his case to trial.
Sullivan is charged in connection with the July 1, 2023 shooting at Pistol Pete’s Bar & Grill at 29 Stonington Road. Police were initially called to the bar for reports of shots fired. When officers arrived, they arrested 37-year-old Bob Louis on gun possession charges. Police said Louis was armed with his own .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol.
Louis claims that a man he did not know pointed a gun at him in the bathroom and that he was “fighting for his life” by grabbing the barrel of the gun when the shot was fired. Louis suffered burns to his hand. Police found a bullet and a shell casing from a 9mm handgun on the bathroom floor. There were bullet fragments in the ceiling and floor.
Police said they used surveillance footage and DNA evidence to identify Sullivan as the shooter in the bathroom. Sullivan was arrested on July 31, 2023, and charged with criminal possession of a firearm, illegal discharge of a firearm, reckless endangerment in the first degree, first-degree assault and interfering with police. The charges carry a total maximum penalty of more than 35 years in prison, if convicted.
New London Superior Court Judge John Newson told Sullivan on Tuesday that the case will be moved to the trial docket.
Sullivan was one of 13 people arrested in 2019 on federal charges related to the distribution of large quantities of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in the Norwich area. He was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Records show that Sullivan was sentenced in federal court earlier this year to about a year in prison for violating the terms of his parole upon his re-arrest in Norwich.
g.smith@theday.com
