CT man on bond for murder conspiracy charges arrested at LAX for alleged pistol-whipping

A Connecticut man who was already facing a murder conspiracy charge — and who was out on a more than $1 million bond — was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport this month after allegedly pistol whipping a person in West Hartford.

Edwin Franqui — who had been released from custody on a $1.25 million bond while awaiting trial in connection to a deadly Hartford shooting —  was taken into custody on a warrant at LAX on Sept. 13, according to the West Hartford Police Department.

When he returns to Connecticut, he will be charged with second-degree assault with a firearm, second-degree breach of peace and reckless driving in connection to an alleged assault on Sept. 10, police said.

Officers responded to the area of 11 South Main St. about 2:08 a.m. on Sept. 10 for a report of a person who was pistol whipped in the head, police said.

When officers arrived, the victim told them that they had been walking through the parking lot behind 977 Farmington Ave., exiting onto South Main Street, when a vehicle that had been driving erratically in the parking lot allegedly almost struck them and the group they were walking with, police said.

A confrontation erupted between the victim and someone in the vehicle, later identified as Franqui, and Franqui allegedly got out of the vehicle, pulled out a gun and struck the victim on the top of the head with it, police said.

Investigators identified Franqui as a suspect “through extensive investigative efforts” and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was taken into custody by FBI agents, members of the Homeland Security Investigations team and the Los Angeles Police Department three days after the assault, police said.

The victim was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that weren’t believed to be life threatening, police said.

Franqui has an extensive criminal history and currently has six criminal cases pending, records show.

He was arrested in Hartford in July 2020 and charged with accessory to murder, conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree assault.

Franqui and his brother, who is also named Edwin Franqui, were charged in connection to the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Junny Lara-Velazquez on the Hartford and West Hartford line.

Lara-Velazquez was shot while he was in a car on Capitol Avenue that crashed into a Subway restaurant just across the West Hartford town line on July 6, 2020.

Hartford teen killed, another injured in ‘targeted’ shooting, crash near Hartford-West Hartford line

In February, Franqui rejected a plea deal from prosecutors. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on a $1.25 million bond, records show.

He was released on another $10,000 on charges of second-degree strangulation and violation of probation stemming from another arrest in Hartford in September 2020, records show.

He has other pending cases in the Hartford judicial district on charges of violating a protective order and possession of a controlled substance, records show.

Franqui’s bond was set at $5 million in the West Hartford assault and local law enforcement was working to return him to Connecticut as of Monday, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the West Hartford police tip line at 860-570-8969 or whpdtips@westhartfordct.gov.