Police: Fairfield Man Arrested After Swiping $800 from Charity

A Fairfield man who allegedly stole $800 from a man raising money for disabled American veterans outside Super Stop & Shop on Kings Highway Cutoff in Fairfield Wednesday evening was apprehended in Bridgeport after a police sergeant in that city spotted his pickup truck on Norman Street, police said.

Sean Smith, 35, of Black Rock Turnpike, admitted to the theft and told officers he didn't have money to pay bills or feed his family, police said.

Police said Smith swiped a plastic jar containing $800 in bills and coins from a stand set up outside Super Stop & Shop about 6:53 p.m. The man stationed at the stand noticed a sign advertising Smith's carpentry business, along with a Web site address, on the side of the pickup truck as Smith drove off, police said.

Police said a check of the Web site gave an address for the business on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield, where Smith lives, and that a check on Smith revealed prior convictions on larceny charges.

A Bridgeport Police sergeant noticed Smith's pickup truck on Norman Street in Bridgeport about 11:44 p.m. Wednesday and pulled it over. Fairfield Police officers and the man who was at the charitable stand responded to Norman Street, and the man positively identified Smith as the man who stole the charitable contributions, police said.

Smith had $80 in dollar bills and had another $50 in a driver's side door. Smith told officers that was all of the stolen money, but the man who operated the charitable stand said there had been much more, police said.

Smith was charged with fifth-degree larceny and was held in lieu of $1,000 bond, pending a July 13 appearance in Bridgeport Superior Court, police said.