Crime & Safety

Employee Allegedly Steals More than 2,000 Pounds of Copper from Workplace

Branford deploys MATRIX unit to track the case.

Kenneth A. Bristol, 51 of Westbrook and Michael A. Zingarella, 41, of Clinton were arrested Monday morning for allegedly stealing 2,633 pounds of bare copper wire worth about $12,000. Bristol, the former employee of a Baldwin Drive business here in Branford, was arrested after being investigated by the Branford Police Department MATRIX team when the copper went missing from his company; Zingarella was not an employee of the company.

The department's MATRIX unit consists of officers Josef Herten and Stosh Konesky. According to Captain Geoffrey Morgan of the Branford Police Department, this MATRIX unit is tasked with implimenting immediate response efforts where there is a likelihood of a known offender.

“Most thefts from business occurs by their employees,” stated Morgan. The business, he stated, reported the theft in early June and after a series of investigations and interviews, the MATRIX team was able to pin Bristol as the alleged offender.

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“Thefts of wire and precious metals are on the increase,” explained Morgan – remember the of the local artist’s copper sculpture. Given those statistics, Morgan said the MATRIX team was targeting precious metal crime.

The copper wire was recovered and both Bristol and Zingarella are due in New Haven Superior Court, Oct. 4.

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