Crime & Safety

Target Car Used to Pin Alleged Repeat Burglar

Using a combination of crime data analysis and target policing, Branford Police believe they've caught suspect responsible for more than one dozen area burglaries.

knew exactly what they were doing when they recently parked a “target car” in the parking lot of the and left a GPS system in plain view in the front of the vehicle. What they didn’t expect was the perpetrator to approach their unmarked police SUV and look to loot goods from it instead.

Police Captain Geoffrey Morgan said a suspect approached the unmarked police SUV and flashed his flashlight in the vehicle looking at an empty iPad dock in the front compartment. The “target car” waiting for the suspect was never approached.

As soon as the waiting police officer noticed the door handle of the SUV shake, he leapt from his surveillance area in the back of the vehicle and went after the male perpetrator who had fled, police reported.

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called the suspect “one heck of a driver,” noting that he hopped into his nearby pick-up truck and sped backwards at a high rate of seeped from the Chowder Pot parking lot down Leetes Island Road and maneuvered onto Interstate 95. The suspect was able to escape. 

Luckily, Morgan said the officer in pursuit noticed and memorized the pick-up truck’s front vanity license plate. In a matter of moments, Branford police were able to connect the driver with a name from the Milford Police Department who had previously arrested the suspect with the same vanity plate. At this time, Branford is seeking a warrant for the suspect’s before arresting him. Morgan said they believe he is responsible for at least 12 similar incidents in the area.

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Several days later, the suspect was also arrested for a similar incident in Orange, which involved him taking off in reverse from a parking lot there.

Branford’s sting-like operation stemmed from the efforts the department has been known for implementing over the past several years. Branford Police Department’s Crime Analyst, Chris Briglia, noticed a recent uptick in burglaries from cars in the east side of town – mainly in the parking lots of the Chowder Pot and on Business Park Drive – and suggested officers target the area with increased patrol.

“He took the information and predicted where and when the next crime would occur,” said Morgan. “Most people commit crimes in patterns,” detailed Morgan, “and a good crime analyst can start predicting those patterns so we can target where a crime will occur.”

Another component of this type of incident, Morgan said, is the public not demonstrating of belongings.

Halloran emphasized at the recent Board of Police Commissioner’s meeting, “We constantly to the public not to leave items in their cars. Please don’t leave items in your car of value that someone would want to steal. Put them in your trunk, put them out of sight. If its not there, no one is going to steal it.”

Increasing guardianship of items, said Morgan, prevents people from becoming victims of these crimes.

Utilizing predictive policing to apprehend this suspect and reminding residents to be conscious of where personal affects are stored in vehicles are two main lessons from the recent incident, both Halloran and Morgan stated. “It gets to the root of what good policing is,” said Morgan. 


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