An Easton man was arrested for DUI and weapons charges early Saturday morning, after a complaint of a vehicle parked in front of a home on Meadows End Road for about 15 minutes with its headlights on and the engine running.
Police said officers found the driver, John Miranda, 49, of 124 Knapp St., sleeping with the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath around 12:15 a.m.
Officers asked him where he was going and he said to the St. Vincent area, according to police. Asked where he was, police said Miranda told them he was at Bridgeport University.
When asked if he had weapons, police said Miranda said he did and officers patted him down to find a small handgun in the waistline of his pants with one round in the chamber and an empty magazine.
A second handgun found in the center console of the vehicle was an unloaded revolver missing the hammer, police said.
Miranda was unsteady on his feet, his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and glossy, police said, adding he did not perform field sobriety tests to standard.
Miranda, 49, was charged with operating under the influence and illegally carrying a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He was released on $500 bond for a Feb. 18 court date.
Man arrested in car theft
Police arrested a Danbury man on a warrant at court on Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport Friday, where he was being held on separate charges. The Monroe warrant stems from a car theft in 2018.
Idhawill Fernandez, 20, was charged with third-degree burglary, second-degree larceny and use of a motor vehicle without permission. Bond was set at $15,000 and he was remanded to the custody of judicial marshals for arraignment.
On June 28, 2018, a Jeep Grand Cherokee was reported stolen by a Cottage Street resident. The victim told police she parked it in her driveway at 11 p.m. the night before and discovered it was missing at 6:43 a.m. on June 28.
Police said the mailbox was smashed and two other unlocked vehicles on the property were entered and rummaged through.
A total of $2,085 worth of items were taken from the vehicles, including a pair of Oakley sunglasses, a pair of headphones, an HP laptop, medical equipment and luggage, according to the report.
That same night, police said there was a rash of people stealing vehicles, crashing them and stealing more.
Police said the Monroe case was connected to the theft of a vehicle in Danbury that was crashed on Route 34 and to the theft of a vehicle on Cedar Hill Road in Newtown, in which officers pursued the stolen vehicle.
The driver lost control and crashed and all of the vehicle’s occupants fled on foot, police said.
Evidence from the investigations connected Fernandez to the Monroe case, according to police.
DUI on Route 111
An employee of GlenRo Spirit Shoppe on Monroe Turnpike told police two men purchased alcohol Sunday evening, before driving a white Acura sedan from the front to the rear of the store, where she saw a man urinating outside.
Officers found the vehicle with two occupants. Police said the key was in the ignition and the engine was running. The driver had what appeared to be beer in an orange paper cup and the passenger had a Heineken, according to the report.
The driver, a 38-year-old Derby man, had the odor of an alcoholic beverage on him, spoke with a slurred speech and had to lean on his car for balance, police said. Field sobriety tests determined he was under the influence and he was charged with DUI, police said.
Vandal cracks windshield
A vandal cracked the windshield of an F150 pickup truck parked in a driveway on Turkey Roost Road, damaging the window on the passenger side of the hood and bending the antenna, Saturday morning.
Police said the owner of the vehicle heard a bang, ran to the door and saw a male with blonde hair and a black sweatshirt get into a silver or white sedan at top of the driveway, before the car took off toward Fan Hill Road.
Police searched the area, but could not find the vehicle.
The incident occurred around 1:05 a.m.
He said, she said
A Danbury man was arrested Saturday afternoon, after police heard conflicting stories from his wife and an eye witness.
A witness told officers he saw Francisco Candelario, 40, of Coalpit Road in Danbury, argue with his wife outside their vehicle on Route 34, then drag her around the car. He said the woman fell in the dirt, before Candelario got her into the vehicle.
But the woman told police she was out running errands with her husband and their daughter and a verbal argument took place. She said she pulled over on Route 34 in Monroe and got out of driver’s seat as the argument continued.
She told police she slipped on wet leaves and fell before her husband helped her up. She also told officers Candelario never hit her, according to police.
But because of the witness’s statement, the argument outside the vehicle and dirt on the woman’s pants, Candelario was charged with disorderly conduct and risk of injury. He was released on $500 bond for a Feb. 10 court date.
Evading an accident
A Danbury man told police he was driving his gray Dodge Grand Caravan on Main Street Thursday afternoon and stopped at the traffic light at north Pepper Street, when an elderly man in a dark color SUV pulled around him.
At the same time, a tractor trailer was turning left onto Pepper Street, so police said the elderly man backed up to give the truck room and struck the Caravan behind him. He then evaded the scene of the accident.
Officers searched the area, but could not find the vehicle. The accident occurred just before 3 p.m.
