Man Pleads Guilty To Firing Gun At Man In Downtown New London

A 25-year-old Preston man has entered no contest pleas to criminal charges that he fired a gun at a man in downtown New London last year.

Dillon Herman entered no contest pleas in New London Superior Court today to third-degree assault and attempted second-degree assault. The plea reduces an initial charge of attempted first-degree assault and dismisses charges of first-degree reckless endangerment, carrying a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and second-degree breach of peace.

The agreed-upon sentence has Herman serving 18 months of a five-year prison sentence with three years of probation. He will be sentenced on July 22.

According to a police affidavit, a man said Herman stopped him in the municipal parking lot at about 3 a.m. on April 28, 2012. The man said Herman was intoxicated and looking for marijuana, and that he later grew confrontational and accused the man of stealing his truck.

The man said Herman drew a .40-caliber semiautomatic Glock pistol and pointed it at his face, at which point the man tried to flee down an alley between the Bulkeley House Restaurant and New London Antiques Center. The man said Herman fired a shot into the ground near his head after he tripped and then struck him with the weapon.

Police patrolling the area responded to the scene and found Herman and the man outside Hot Rod Cafe. Officers arrested Herman at gunpoint and confiscated his weapon. A bullet was later recovered from the alley.

At his initial court appearance, Herman’s attorney said Herman was a classmate of Matthew Chew at Ledyard High School and bought the gun for protection after Chew was murdered in a random attack in 2010. He said the man approached Herman several times and Herman fired the gun in an attempt to make him go away.

Dillon has also been charged with first-degree larceny, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, third-degree assault, traveling unreasonably fast, and following too close in a Dec. 30 incident in Montville. He did not enter a plea to any of these charges.

According to The Bulletin, Dillon is accused of stealing a Mohegan Sun security vehicle after he was thrown out of the casino and crashing it into the back of another car, injuring himself and three other people.

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