MONROE, CT — A 66-year-old Trumbull man was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center with suspected serious injuries Saturday afternoon, after being struck by a vehicle backing out of a parking space in the Hometown Tool parking lot, 415 Main St.
The pedestrian told police he was walking toward Vazzy’s Osteria at approximately 2:16 p.m., when he remembered bouncing off a car. But he remembered no other details.
Police said the driver, a 24-year-old Monroe woman, told officers she was backing out of a parking space in her 2008 Toyota Highlander, and never saw the pedestrian behind her.
She heard the impact and stopped, then saw the pedestrian look up, police said. She was cited for unsafe backing.
Monroe Volunteer Emergency Medical Service personnel treated the pedestrian at the scene and took him to the hospital.
Osteria Romana burglarized
A burglar stole approximately $8,300 from a safe inside the kitchen at Osteria Romana, a restaurant at 89 Main St.
Police said surveillance video shows a man pull up in a U-Haul van at 2:05 a.m. on Nov. 24, get out of the vehicle and enter the business for three minutes, before leaving the scene.
Officers were unable to get a physical description of the suspect, who was wearing dark clothing with a covering over his head. Police said the door of the restaurant was not damaged and there was no video surveillance in kitchen.
Police said the owner did not discover the burglary until Friday, Nov. 25, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. When officers arrived, the safe door was jar, according to the report.
Detectives processed the scene and the burglary is under investigation.
More stolen checks
On Friday, a Hammertown Road man told police he made out a $267 check to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles and left it in his mailbox on Nov. 14 for regular Postal pickup, when someone stole it, altered the check and tried to cash it.
Chase Bank notified him that someone tried to withdraw $12,425 from his account.
A digital copy of the check showed it was the same number of the check he made out to the DMV, police said, adding the recipient was changed to a name unknown to the victim.
There was no video surveillance near the mailbox, police said, adding the victim notified the DMV of the incident.
The Monroe Police Detective Division and the U.S. Postal Service is handling the investigation.
On Saturday, an Osborn Lane woman told police someone stole a check from her mailbox, altered the amount and attempted to cash it.
Wells Fargo Bank told her an attempt was made to withdraw $12,220 from her account. The check number was the same as the one she originally made out to AAA for $98, police said.
The recipient on the check was also changed to a name unfamiliar to the victim. There does not appear to be a financial loss at this time.
Police said detectives, the bank and the U.S. Postal Service is investigating the incident.
Unemployment scam
A 38-year-old Moose Hill Road man told police he received a letter from the Connecticut Department of Labor for unemployment benefits, even though he is still employed and had never applied for benefits, according to a complaint filed Sunday.
He called the Department of Labor, which told him to report the incident to police.
Police said the victim notified his bank and credit bureaus to monitor his accounts, adding there is no financial loss at this time.
I use check-safe pens (ink cannot) be bleached out, and always take outgoing mail to the post office to prevent theft.