WATERBURY, Conn. — A very tragic weekend in Waterbury as police responded to four separate incidents involving deaths.
There was a fatal car crash, the discovery of human remains, and two separate fatal shootings. One of the shootings occurred at a restaurant and the other at a bar.
Late Saturday night, a fight, which witnesses told police started inside of the Salsa Tropical Social Club, spilled into the parking lot, where the suspect started firing indiscriminately and shot the owner of the club to death.
Ramon Rodriguez, 44, of Waterbury, who already had five pending court cases, is now locked up on $2 million bond, accused of murdering 51-year-old Dennis Santos, the owner of the Waterbury's Salsa Tropical Social Club.
"And I just want everybody to know that he's a very good guy," said Rodriguez's friend Felix Reyes. "He might've made a mistake but he is a very good guy."
According to the police report, Rodriguez showed up at the club with his girlfriend, but his ex-girlfriend, with whom he has two children, was there, and Rodriguez allegedly didn't like that, according to a witness who told police Rodriguez came up to him asking "What are you doing with my girl," meaning his ex-girlfriend. The witness said he responded, "ask her yourself," which started a fight that spilled into the parking lot.
"I just wanna let everybody know that don't treat him like a monster," Reyes added.
Police found Rodriguez and his current girlfriend, who sped from the scene after the shooting, a short time later.
"It's happening not only in Waterbury but it's happening everywhere," said Mayor Neil O'Leary (D-Waterbury).
Just 21 hours before the Salsa Tropical Social Club shooting, Michael Anderson, 61, the owner of Mikey's Jamaican Restaurant in Waterbury, was charged with murder after allegedly shooting 28-year-old Sebastian Olavarria to death in an apparent dispute that began over parking.
O'Leary, a former Waterbury Police Chief, compared gun violence now to 1980 when he first joined the force.
"To listen to a gun call on the radio was like maybe twice a month and I mean that and now it's like three times, four times a day," O'Leary said.
Anderson, who is being held on a $2 million bond, was also due to be arraigned Monday, but he was being treated at a local hospital.
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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