New London — An 18-year-old Waterbury man known in his home city for being tied by ballistics evidence to 16 shootings statewide has been arrested in connection with shots fired on Vauxhall Street in April.

City police on Wednesday charged Richard Laramy of 123 Lester Drive, Waterbury, with carrying a pistol without a permit, unlawful discharge of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and first-degree attempted assault.

The New London Superior Court clerk's office said he was arrested and arraigned at New London's Part A court, where major crimes are heard.

Laramy has been held by the state Department of Correction since the day after his April 25 arrest in Waterbury on assault, drug and firearms charges, according to the agency. His bond in that case was set at $750,000.

Waterbury police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo in an April news conference said police recovered a 9mm handgun and a 30-round extended magazine on Laramy when they searched him after chasing him down as part of a sting operation.

"This gun has been connected to 16 different incidents in the state of Connecticut where it was used in shootings — either incidents of shots fired, where property was damaged, or incidents where there was a victim of a shooting," he said. He counted four victims, and said their injuries were not life-threatening.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit from New London police, April 4 surveillance footage at the Sully's Mobil station at 382 Vauxhall St. showed Laramy with what looked like a cigarette in his mouth as he pumped gas. Laramy, who was a passenger in the vehicle, and the driver appeared to recognize the occupants of another car driving by in the parking lot just before Laramy retrieved an item from the vehicle and began running toward the other car.

The affidavit said Laramy used what appeared to be a dark semiautomatic handgun with an extended magazine to shoot at the vehicle, which sped out of the parking lot south on Colman Street. He fired multiple shots in the direction of Vauxhall and Colman while standing in the gas station parking lot. The driver returned the nozzle to the gas pump and drove off with Laramy as a passenger.

Police found four shell casings and one bullet at the scene, according to the affidavit. They also found one bullet and two bullet holes in the victim's vehicle, which was found registered to a Jewett City resident who said he didn't know who shot at him.

The affidavit said Laramy told a state trooper following his April 25 arrest in Waterbury that he had been at the New London gas station with the gun. The document quoted Laramy as saying "his (expletive) jammed and mine didn't."

New London police Chief Brian Wright said members of his department worked with agencies including Waterbury police and the Connecticut State Police to get "a menace off the streets."

"He was on a tear," Wright said.

Spagnolo, the Waterbury police chief, said his officers arrested Laramy three times as an adult and seven times as a juvenile. The department's interactions with the 18-year-old go back seven years.

Systemic tolerance for repeat offenses puts the community at risk, according to Spagnolo.

Laramy "continues to be in and out of the system," Spagnolo said. "He continues to engage in violent and felonious activity and we really need to pay attention to where he goes from here."

e.regan@theday.com