MONROE, CT — Police responded to a burglary and an attempted burglary of two town businesses within the past week.
The Monroe Police Detective Division is investigating the burglary of Seven Maples Landscaping & Nursery, 84 Main St., and the attempted burglary of 574 Wines, 574 Monroe Turnpike.
Someone entered Seven Maples through a window at around 11:19 p.m. on Oct. 11 and stole $997 from an office, along with two checks, that were later canceled, of $297 and $38, police said.
The suspect, who wore a black ski mask, black jacket, black and white hoodie, black pants, black shoes, grey gloves and a black backpack, tried to leave through the front entrance, but the door was locked, so the suspect exited out of the same open window, police said.
Police responded to the burglar alarm at 11:30 p.m., arriving two minutes later. The manager let officers inside at 12:03 a.m. and a search of the premises found some overturned decorations, but no suspect.
Then on Sunday, a burglar alarm at 574 Wines sounded at approximately 2:39 a.m.
Surveillance footage showed three suspects in masks and gloves attempting to gain entry, police said. One threw a brick to break the glass in the front the door, but it did not break through and the burglars left the scene when the alarm sounded, according to police.
Video did not capture the vehicle the suspects drove off in. On Monday the damaged front door of the liquor store was boarded up.
While police investigated the incident, the Trumbull Police Department notified other area departments of several businesses being targeted by burglars in their town, including a Dunkin’ Donuts that was successfully broken into, according to the report.
The suspects’ vehicle was a gray SUV.
Monroe Police Lt. Michael Sweeney said town police cannot confirm whether it is connected to the attempted burglary of 574 Wines.
An explosion on Garder Road
Police officers responding to a complaint of a loud explosion in the 260 block of Garder Road, just after midnight Sunday, discovered it was the sound of a vehicle crashing into a utility pole in the area of Fan Hill and Hammertown roads.
Officers found an unoccupied silver Mitsubishi Eclipse at the scene.
Police identified the owner of the vehicle from a check with the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles and a witness at the scene told officers a female was picked up by someone in a Toyota Camry near the accident.
A Monroe man told officers the woman appeared to be in distress, so he gave her a ride to her house on Cross Hill Road.
There, the driver, a 31-year-old Monroe woman, admitted to being involved in the accident and leaving the scene, according to police, who issued her a misdemeanor summons for failure to maintain the proper lane, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, and evading responsibility.
She was released on a promise to appear in court on Oct. 25.
Rollover at the dam
A New Haven man escaped injury after losing control of his blue 2013 Honda Fit in the rain, resulting in a rollover crash while heading south on Route 34, near the dam early Friday morning.
The vehicle, which sustained heavily disabling front-end damage, ended up on its roof, according to police.
The driver told officers he did not notice the road veered sharply to the right because of the dark conditions, and stepped on the brakes before the embankment, just before the rollover crash, which occurred around 5:30 a.m., police said.
He received an infraction for traveling too fast for conditions.
Firefighters and Monroe Volunteer Emergency Medical Service personnel also responded to the scene.
Stolen cash
A 57-year-old Trumbull woman returned her cart to the carriage corral after shopping at Big Y, 535 Monroe Turnpike, Saturday afternoon. She got into her vehicle and had just pulled out onto Route 111, when she realized she left her wallet in the cart, according to police.
The woman’s wallet was still inside the shopping cart when she came back. However, she noticed it had been unzipped and all of the cash that was inside had been taken, a total of $210.
On Monday, the store manager allowed an officer to see the surveillance video and a man could be seen returning his cart to the carriage corral about two minutes after the woman left.
He seemed to take a while and reached for the side pocket of his pants while walking away, but police said there was no definitive evidence that he took the money, adding a tree branch obscured the license plate of his vehicle.
