65 Complaints—

Third And Fourth Males

Arrested In Thefts From Vehicles

By Andrew Gorosko

Police arrested two more people this week on criminal charges in connection with a string of thefts from vehicles in Sandy Hook that extended from last February to September, during which police received approximately 65 larceny complaints.

Those arrests bring to four the number of people charged in the thefts, most of which involved the thieves simply opening unlocked vehicles parked near homes during the nighttime and stealing small valuable items, such as digital music players, automotive navigation systems, and satellite radios.

Stolen items included cash, cameras, cellphones, compact discs, audio equipment, laptop computers, and credit cards.   

On the night of December 2, police arrested on a warrant a local 15-year-old boy on nine criminal charges including third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, and sixth-degree larceny, as well as conspiracy to commit those offenses.

Because the boy is under age 18, his identity is shielded from disclosure by state law. The boy is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on December 15 in Danbury Juvenile Court, police said.

Also, on December 1, police arrested on a warrant Gregory Goodkowsky, 21, of Longmeadow, Mass., charging him with one count of fifth-degree larceny. Goodkowsky formerly lived in the area.

After posting $2,500 bail, Goodkowsky was released for a December 17 appearance in Danbury Superior Court.

On November 17, police arrested on a warrant a local 16-year-old boy, charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny and with one count of tampering with evidence. Additionally, on October 17 police arrested another local 16-year-old boy, lodging a charge of sixth-degree larceny.

The rash of thefts had become so widespread that police enlisted the use of the Code Red system to warn residents about the problem. In August, police employed the automated telephone calling system to disseminate information on crime prevention in light of the rash of thefts from vehicles.

In a recorded townwide telephone message issued on August 14, Police Chief Michael Kehoe stated that during the past several months, there had been a noted increase of thefts of items from vehicles, generally occurring overnight from unlocked vehicles parked in residential driveways.

In that message, the police chief urged residents to keep their vehicles locked when unattended and to report any suspicious activity to local police. The police chief said there had been so many cases of theft from vehicles that it became necessary to use the notification system to issue a broad crime prevention warning.

Detective Jason Frank, who investigated the rash of thefts for police, said that losses in the incidents amounted to thousands of dollars of goods being stolen.

Police have recovered some of the items which were stolen, he said. Those items currently are being held as evidence in the prosecutions of the four people charged in the case, he said.

The large majority of incidents involved the thieves simply opening unlocked motor vehicles and stealing items which were plainly visible from outside those vehicles, Det Frank said. In some cases, windows were broken on vehicles to gain entry and steal the items, he said.

Many of the thefts occurred in the section of Sandy Hook lying within the area bounded by Glen Road, Riverside Road, and Lake Zoar, he said. No additional arrests are expected in the case, he said.