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Warrant: New Canaan Woman’s Identity Used in Theft, Fraud

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Police on April 30 arrested a 65-year-old New Jersey woman by warrant after she stole a $112,067 U.S. Treasury check from a local resident and deposited it into a Nashville bank. The suspect opened the account using fraudulent documents that identified her, falsely, as a New Canaan resident—a U.S. passport card, address, Social Security number and driver’s license number, according to the affidavit of New Canaan Police Officer Kelly Coughlin that forms the major part of an arrest warrant application signed April 15 by state Superior Court Judge John Blawie and obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

The check had been deposited into an account at Fifth Third Bank in Nashville in November, and local police learned of the fraud in January, when the victim came to NCPD headquarters to report the associated identity theft. The IRS had contacted the victim saying she would receive the large refund, but a check never arrived and the victim “initially thought it was a mistake and did not realize she was actually owed this money,” Coughlin said in the police affidavit. “She did not know where the check may have been intercepted along the chain of being mailed to her residence,” Coughlin said in the affidavit. The victim “contacted the IRS via telephone to advise them she never received the check and that someone had intercepted it,” the arrest warrant application said.

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NCPD Officer Matt Blank Named ‘Lt. Stephen W. Wood Memorial 2026 Officer of the Year’ at Annual Ceremony

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Created in 2014, the New Canaan Police Department’s Lt. Stephen W. Wood Officer of the Year Award carries “special significance,” Chief John DiFederico said Thursday afternoon. The award recognizes “not only excellence in policing,” DiFederico told about 30 people gathered in the training room at NCPD, “but also the enduring legacy of Lt. Stephen Wood, known fondly to many of us as ‘Woody.’ ”

“Lt. Wood served the New Canaan Police Department and this community with unwavering dedication for 33 years,” the chief said. “Throughout his career, he exemplified integrity, professionalism, compassion and commitment to public service. Those values continue to guide and shape our department today. This year, one officer stood out for truly embodying those same qualities, Officer Matt Blank.”

DiFederico spoke during the NCPD’s annual awards ceremony, held during National Police Week and recognizing outstanding officers for achievements in 2025.

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Police Find Heroin, Fentanyl and Cocaine During DUI Arrest

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Police found heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in the vehicle of a 42-year-old Bridgeport woman during a DUI arrest last week. At about 9:14 p.m., an officer conducting selective enforcement at New Norwalk and Shaker Roads saw a car drift over the white shoulder line, according to a police report. A second vehicle stopped to tell police that they’d been driving behind the car in question and “it was operating erratically,” the report said. During a subsequent stop, the officer noticed that the woman’s speech was delayed, and administered standard field sobriety tests, it said. While that was happening, the officer saw that the pupils of her eyes were constricted and saw “a white powdery substance” under her nostril, “consistent with cocaine usage.”

Police brought in the K-9 unit and during an exterior vehicle sniff/search, the dog detected a hit “and narcotics were found,” the report said.

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Warrant: Police Use DNA To ID Suspect in Stolen Vehicle Case

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New Canaan Police used DNA to identify and arrest a 19-year-old Branford man in the theft of a Range Rover last fall. Police found out about the theft on the morning of Oct. 2, when a Juniper Road man said that he had parked his wife’s SUV in the driveway at about 11 p.m. the prior night “and discovered it gone the next morning,” according to an affidavit from Sgt. Peter Condos that forms the major part of an arrest warrant application signed April 29 by state Superior Court Judge Bruce Hudock. A credit card that had been left inside the SUV was used at 3:15 a.m. at an Exxon gas station in New Haven, according to the arrest warrant application, obtained by NewCanaanite.com.

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New Canaan Man, 35, Charged with Disorderly Conduct

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Police last week arrested a 35-year-old New Canaan man and charged him with disorderly conduct. At about 8:14 p.m., officers responded to an Old Norwalk Road home to investigate an abandoned 911 call, according to a police report. There, they investigated a dispute that had occurred between the man and victim, the report said. The police established probable cause for the misdemeanor charge, it said. Under state law, people are guilty of disorderly conduct if they “with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk … [e]ngages in … threatening behavior; or … annoys or interferes with another person,” among other reasons.