New Canaan Police last week arrested a 26-year-old New Jersey man accused of stealing a high-end sports car belonging to a New Canaan resident, closing a four-year investigation into the theft.
On Aug. 28, 2021, local officers were dispatched on a report of a vehicle that had just been stolen from a garage of a western New Canaan home, according to an arrest warrant application written by NCPD Sergeant Scott Romano and obtained by NewCanaanite.com.
The stolen car was a 2020 McLaren GT sports car worth approximately $250,000, Romano said in the application. The garage door of the McLaren had been closed, yet the neighboring garage door, holding a Tesla SUV, had been left open. The keys had been left in both vehicles.
Local police canvassed the surrounding roads and swabbed the garage opener for DNA, yet found no evidence, according to the police affidavit, which was signed by a prosecuting attorney and state Superior Court judge Bruce Hudock.
On Aug. 29, 2021, the resident emailed the police department “stating he was able to track the E-ZPass toll tag in the stolen McLaren,” Romano’s affidavit said. The suspect drove the vehicle through the New Jersey Turnpike and exited to Newark and Elizabeth.
Romano later discovered, via cameras and license plate reader systems, that a dark-colored 2020 Nissan Altima bearing a Texas plate had followed the McLaren from New Canaan to Newark on the night of the theft, according to the affidavit. The Nissan was an Enterprise rental.
Officers then obtained the information of a New Jersey woman who had rented the Nissan and made contact with her on Sept. 2, 2021. The woman verified that the rental car was hers and told police that she had let a friend borrow it on the evening of Aug. 28, Romano said in the application.
The woman told the police that she “needed to talk to a friend” and would call them back with more information, according to the application. The woman never called back, yet after being contacted once more by the police, she offered up a “completely different name” and contact than the one she had initially given.
Police obtained a search warrant to retrieve the cellular records of the woman, Romano said in the affidavit.
“The records showed that mere seconds after police made contact with her, [the woman] called [a phone number] multiple times in immediate succession,” the affidavit said. “Additional review of the records showed [the woman] had been in touch with this number numerous times prior to the McLaren being stolen.”
A free law enforcement cell phone resource site gave the name of the man with this phone number, and on Oct. 22, 2021, a search warrant for these cellular records was obtained by local police, Romano said in the application. The records showed contact with the woman, and cell tower hits close to the burglarized house on the night of the theft.
Later consultation with the Essex County, N.J. prosecutor’s office revealed that the suspect had been involved in multiple crimes in recent years, including charged drug possession with intent to sell and arson in connection with a homicide, Romano said in the application.
Police applied for and obtained a warrant on charges of second-degree burglary and first-degree larceny, the affidavit said.
Last Monday, May 19, New Canaan Police learned that the suspect was being held at the Essex County Correctional Facility and took him into custody on the felony charges. The suspect is being held on $250,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 20, Connecticut Judicial Branch records show. He will be represented by Norwalk-based attorney Frank Bevilacqua, the records show.
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