Three Men Charged in Fairfield Home Depot Theft

[Editor's Note: Arrest information is supplied by the . It does not indicate convictions.]

Three New York men face larceny charges in connection to the theft of nearly $2,000 worth of electrical wire from , police said. The same men may have been involved in a similar theft at the Home Depot in Norwalk. Both incidents occurred on Tuesday.

Carlos Gonzalez, 55, Miguel Garcia, 20, and Travis Allen, 50, were charged with fourth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fourth-degree larceny, and organized retail theft, department spokesperson Sgt. Sue Lussier said. Garcia was further charged with interfering with a police officer.

According to police and Home Depot security, the men allegedly placed coils of wire in shopping carts, hid the carts, and then purchased smaller items at the register. They used the receipts for the less expensive items to wheel out the carts full of wire without paying for the wire, Lussier said.

The stolen wire totaled $1,898, according to the report. The men fled the store before security could detain them.

Police tracked down Gonzalez in the fitness club parking lot and noticed more coils of wire in the car, which police believe were from the Norwalk Home Depot. Norwalk police had reported a similar incident about an hour before the men were seen at the Fairfield Home Depot, police said.

The other two men were detained; all three were transported to headquarters to be processed. They were each released on a $5,000 bond and are due in court on March 8.

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Also in the blotter:

A Park North Condominium resident reported to police on Tuesday that her credit card and mail were stolen from her mailbox recently.

According to the report, the resident learned of the credit card theft when the card company called her to notify her of suspicious charges. The card was brand-new and had apparently been swiped before she knew it had been delivered.

Approximately $900 in fraudulent charges had been applied to the card at various sites, including a Mobil gas station in Fairfield, a restaurant on Boston Avenue in Bridgeport, a Sunglass Hut, and two places in Stratford, Lussier said.

This is under investigation.

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A Warner Hill Road resident reported to police early Wednesday that his car window had been smashed open the night before.

The resident found the side window smashed and a pocketbook was missing from the car, police said. According to the complainant, the break-in occurred sometime Tuesday evening.

The report did not say whether the break-in occurred at the residence or elsewhere.