MONROE, CT — A 36-year-old Ridgewood Drive woman told police a security camera on her property shows a White or Hispanic male with dark hair, a light blue T-shirt and black pajama pants, carry a notebook while walking to the front of her property Thursday afternoon, the video stops, before starting again as he walks along one side of her house to the backyard and into the woods in a northerly direction.
Police said the woman did not recognize the person and nothing at the residence appeared to be missing or disturbed.
Officers investigating the incident, which occurred at 3:32 p.m., found no similar incidents in the neighborhood during that time frame, as neighbors did not report suspicious activity or see the male on their surveillance footage, police said.
The homeowner wanted to document the incident and told officers she will call them if she sees him in her yard again.
Another clean getaway
A theft of laundry detergent at Stop & Shop Monday afternoon is similar to a theft reported on Feb. 26. In both incidents a Black man wearing a blue surgical mask filled a cart with detergent and left the store at 470 Monroe Turnpike without paying.
On Monday, an employee followed the suspect out of the store and took pictures of the vehicle and the license as the black Chevy Cruz left the parking lot, before heading north on Route 111. Police said detectives are using the pictures while following up on leads about the car during their investigating of the incident.
In the Feb. 26 incident, the suspect fled in a dark gray sedan.
The store reported Monday’s theft at at 2:44 p.m., right after it occurred, and was still trying to determine the quantity and value of the stolen detergent, according to the report.
The suspect was wearing gray Nike sweatpants, a gray hoodie, a blue surgical mask and a pair of gray and black shoes.
Blue surgical mask again …
A Black male, wearing a white track suit with a large black vertical rectangle on the front and a blue surgical face mask, entered CVS pharmacy, 511 Monroe Turnpike, Wednesday afternoon, filled a shopping cart with Dove personal care products, Tide laundry pods and Febreze air spray and headed toward the exit.
A store employee approached the man and asked if he needed any help.
Police said the man became angry and left the store without any of the merchandise. The cart had a total of 79 items valued at more than $831, the report said.
The incident, which occurred around 1:12 p.m., is under investigation.
Rollover on 25
A 46-year-old Trumbull man drove a 2015 Chevy Express Van south on Route 25 Tuesday afternoon, when he attempted a left turn into a driveway at 650 Main St. and was struck by a 2018 Hyundai Sonata heading north on Main Street, according to police.
The van rolled over onto its driver side after the collision and the driver became entrapped, police said, adding Monroe firefighters extricated the man from the vehicle.
Both drivers, the Trumbull man and an 80-year-old Easton woman who drove the Hyundai, were treated for any injuries by the Trumbull Emergency Medical Service, but refused further treatment at a hospital, police said.
The Trumbull man was issued infractions for failure to grant the right-of-way and driving an unregistered motor vehicle.
Both damaged vehicles were towed after the crash, which occurred at approximately 4:14 p.m. Police said Route 25 was temporarily shutdown until firefighters extricated the Trumbull driver and the tow trucks arrived on the scene.
‘Don’t call the police’
An email notifying a 69-year-old Monroe woman of a fraudulent purchase on her new PayPal account nearly led to more fraud, according to a police complaint filed Thursday.
The woman told officers she opened a PayPal account about a month ago, using her cellphone number and her email address. She added one credit card to the account and has not used it since.
The email had an invoice for the $1,047.99 purchase of an item to be shipped to Wilmington, Del., in her name.
She contacted PayPal using the phone number in her email and talked to someone she believed to be a female employee, who told her to fix the issue, she needed to go to a PayPal center at a Stop & Shop or Kroger’s shopping center. Once at Stop & Shop she was instructed to call a number provided to her.
Then the victim received a text from the woman claiming to be from PayPal with a six digit code. She asked her why she shouldn’t just call the police and the woman told her not to.
At this point, the Monroe woman became suspicious and called the police, according to the report.
She does not believe she had any financial loss from the purchase made through her PayPal account, because someone had used a credit card unknown to her, police said. The woman canceled the credit card on her PayPal account and has been monitoring her credit.
Police said the initial email appears to have been part of a scam, where thieves try to gather more information on a potential identity theft victim.
The case is under investigation.
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