Crime & Safety

OMGeddon, Part 2: Strangest Police Reports of 2012

Here's Part 2 of our year-end wrapup of the strangest of the strange police reports that cropped up in the area during 2012.

The headlines below come from the original "Fairfield County Police Digest" articles published by Shelton Patch and don't necessarily match up with the reports selected.

Sleep & Motor Vehicles—a Bad Mix

Don't sleep in the car, Part I:

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Greenwich Police say a motorist slept through an engine fire in his car and firefighters extinguishing it. Perhaps not surprisingly, he was charged with driving while intoxicated

Don't sleep in the car, Part II:

Find out what's happening in Shelton-Derbywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Westport police reportedly while the engine was running. Police said an officer eventually broke one of the car windows in order to wake the driver, as he was totally unresponsive. 

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A Shih Tzu in Stamford could be extracted from underneath a porch only after a carpenter was called to dismantle a portion of the deck.

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Thieves Steal the Darndest Things

Five out-of-town teens were arrested in Fairfield for allegedly stealing five American flags from the South Benson Marina.

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A pair of dentures was stolen from a truck belonging to a Fairfield resident this week. Also stolen was a cell phone.

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According to Darien police: 1. A woman driving a minivan downtown rear-ends a car. 2. The woman and her male passenger indicate to the other driver that they don't speak English; the man and woman switch places, and he begins driving away. 3. The woman falls out of the moving minivan. 4. She wanders off. 5. The driver of the other car is able, somehow (police don't say how) to prevent the minivan from being driven away. 6. Police arrive and find the woman in a nearby back yard. 7. Police charge each of the minivan drivers with driving while under the influence.

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Got Lotsa Drugs in the Car? Wear the Seat Belt

A 42-year-old Shelton man was arrested and charged on an accusation he had paid a teenager to fight another teenager who he believed was bullying his daughter. The parents of both of the 13-year-old victims refused medical attention for their children while on scene, police said.

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Theft Beyond the Dreams of Counterfeiters

A Norwalk school board member, with (1) driving an unregistered vehicle (2) with a suspended license (3) while talking on his cell phone.

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Only a week after a similar incident was reported in Oxford, a severed cat head was found in the backyard of a Fairfield home, sitting atop an AstroTurf putting green.

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A man who allegedly attempted to rob a Norwalk store was rather quickly put behind bars when the owner of the store snuck out and rolled down the security gate, trapping the suspect inside.

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Like Hansel & Gretel with Beer Cans

A trail of beer cans leading from a country club in Fairfield into a residential neighborhood provided police a lead to find the suspects responsible for $75,000 worth of damage on the club's golf course.

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A 48-year-old Stratford man was issued an infraction this week for reportedly spraying a stranger with a water gun from the driver's seat of his car, then speeding off.

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A 32-year-old Stamford woman delivered herself right to police after a night of drinking and driving, according to Scarsdale police. An officer witnessed the woman in a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle driving into the police lot the wrong way. She told police that she entered the police parking lot to "sleep it off."

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A teenage driver was pulled over in Naugatuck for having a passenger before he’s legally allowed, police said. As a result of the stop, according to police, in his car. 

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A Norwalk man lost $10,000 cash Monday when his car was burglarized. He told police he had the money hidden under the driver's seat for a trip to a casino. A window was smashed to gain entry.

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A 24-year-old Amityville, NY man crawled into a large clothing donation bin in Darien recently—and then found he couldn't get out, Darien police said. He had his cell phone with him in the bin and called the company that owns it, but it was past 3 a.m., and all he could do was leave a message, so he called police and asked to be rescued. It took a visit from the local fire department to cut through a chain and free him, whereupon he was arrested. The company that owns the bins told police that the metal boxes are designed to let people in but not let them out—because so many thieves had been stealing from them.

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A  was charged with crimes while in the hospital, police said.

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At different points twice in one day on a Darien street, a teenager on a skateboard exposed himself to passing women. He even turned around on the skateboard and exposed himself again as he passed, the women said.

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A Hamden man was arrested after police say he broke into a relative's home and was found sleeping in her bed. The homeowner's son was checking his mother's home when he found the man asleep in the bed, police said.

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A 39-year-old man was found by a passing police officer at 1:53 a.m. one Sunday, asleep behind the wheel while stopped at a traffic light on Route 1 in Darien, police said. According to a police report, before an officer could confront him, the man's car started rolling, traveling about a tenth of a mile before stopping. On the floor in the back of the car was his 3-year-old grandaughter. Nobody was injured in the incident. Police charged him with driving while under the influence and risk of injury to a minor, among other charges.

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A Waterbury motorcyclist is accused of riding while under the influence as he chased a car driver who he said cut him of in Naugatuck. Where did he chase him to? The Police Department.

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Stealing Smokey on a Teen 'Bucket List'

Three teenagers arrested on charges of stealing the wooden Smokey Bear cutouts on Woodbury's fire alert sign said stealing the cutouts was on their "bucket list" of things to do this summer, according to town officials.

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At 1:20 a.m. one Monday, Darien Police say, they found an SUV stopped in front of a stop sign with the 33-year-old driver asleep at the wheel. The sleeping man was  holding the steering wheel with his left hand; in his right hand was a partially full bottle of Corona beer. The gear was still in drive. After repeated attempts, police eventually were able to wake the man up. Then they charged him with driving while under the influence and driving without a driver's license.

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Trumbull police officers, responding to a crisis hotline call about a veteran with a gun, went to an office at 80 Merritt Blvd. after a reverse search using the caller's phone number, police said. But there was an error in the phone number, and police learned the address was actually in Stratford, where police in that town responded. Trumbull police said that when their Emergency Response Team ordered a Rocky Hill man to come out of the Trumbull office, he refused. So he was arrested.

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When Hamden police pulled over a New Haven man on a charge of not obeying  a stop sign, he allegedly ditched his car, leaving behind his 7-year-old son in the vehicle with 13 bags of marijuana, 3 bags of cocaine and assorted drug paraphernalia.

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With a Corona beer between his legs and the remaining six-pack of beer in his car, a motorist was arrested by Greenwich Police on several charges including drinking while driving.

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A Monroe man charged with attempted burglary reportedly told officers he was only trying to peek at his ex-wife when the window fell in. The condo was being renovated, so the window was not secure, according to police who said the incident took place at 9 p.m. when the woman was not home.

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A Stratford man, allegedly unhappy with the work done on his vehicle, was accused of breaking into the home of his mechanic and robbing him at gunpoint, reportedly fleeing with $75.

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Paint-Ball Perpetration? Inebriated Misdirection?

A New Haven man and a North Haven juvenile are accused of roaming the streets of Hamden and shooting at people from their car with a paintball gun. Three people were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries after the incidents.

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A Bridgeport man police believe was involved in a motor vehicle crash was arrested in Trumbull after he was allegedly found sleeping in a bed in a home where he didn't live.

Trumbull police gave this account: A couple heard a noise in their home late at night and checked the guest bedroom, where they found the man. They called 911. The man was incoherent at times but said he entered through a window.

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Malice Aforethought? Without Thought?

When someone shut off the power switch for his home twice in the past month, a Monroe man put a padlock on his electric meter box. Police said the lock was torn off one night and the switch had been flipped, leaving the homeowner in the dark once again.

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A Monroe man told police that a tree came crashing down across the road, damaging the siding on his house and garage. Now that hasn't been an unusual occurance over the past two months, but this is: Officers found evidence that someone had cut the tree down. They still don't know who did it.

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When approached by police officers, a New Canaan man admitted that he had marijuana stored in a secret compartment in his hat. As a result, the officers deemed the hat as "drug paraphernalia."

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No Place Like Home

An out-of-state complainant called Fairfield police this month to ask them to check on her deceased parents' home, which was listed for sale and supposed to be unoccupied. According to police, the daughter was taking care of the utility bills and noticed last month's bill was much higher than the previous months. Police checked on the home and found a woman was indeed living there, and she had found the home listed for rent on Craigslist. The complainant had not agreed to sublet the home—police are investigating.

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Condom Caper Becomes Chewing Gum Theft?

A Fairfield Cumberland Farms employee told police a young male reportedly attempted to steal condoms, but after the employee said she'd call police, the suspect returned the condoms and may have made off with gum instead. Once out the door, the suspect sped off on a green motor scooter.


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