Police Blotter for April 8: Woman Swindled Out of $890, Graves Vandalized

The Fairfield Police Department’s press briefing on Friday included the following cases. Arrest information does not indicate a conviction.

Woman scammed out of $890

A Fairfield woman reported Thursday that she was the victim of a scam and swindled out of $890.

According to police, the 24-year-old victim was shopping Tuesday at Food Basic in Bridgeport when she met a woman who offered her childcare work. The victim gave the woman her telephone number and received a call Thursday. The woman said she wanted the victim to meet her boss and needed $890 in cash for a CPR certification and drug testing required for the job. The woman picked up the victim and took her to Staples at 1201 Kings Highway East, to make copies of her birth certificate and driver’s license. The victim left her purse and the $890 in the car and went inside the store. When she came out, the woman had driven off and the purse was lying on the ground.

Wallet stolen from car

The homeowner at 25 Rena Place reported Thursday morning that a wallet had been taken from his car overnight while it was parked in the driveway.

According to police, at around 3 a.m., the car’s alarm went off and the homeowner went to check on it. The vehicle was unlocked, the driver’s side door was ajar and a wallet that had been in the center console was missing. The wallet contained a license, three credit cards and $320 in cash.

Windshields smashed

Two separate homeowners reported Thursday that their car windshields had been smashed overnight.

According to police, the homeowner at 184 Church Hill Road said that at around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night, he heard a loud bang outside, went outside to look around but didn’t notice anything unusual. However, Thursday morning, he noticed that the windshield of his car had been shattered. Damage is estimated at $500.

The homeowner at 170 Jennings Road reported that sometime after midnight Wednesday night that someone threw a beer bottle at his car, which was parked in the road, smashing the windshield. A damage estimate was not available.

Graves vandalized

A woman reported Thursday afternoon that her mother’s grave in the St. Thomas Cemetery at 99 Mill Plain Road had been vandalized.

According to police, the woman said her mother was buried on Tuesday morning and that when she returned to the grave around 5:30 p.m., she saw a woman working on an adjacent grave and carrying flower arrangement baskets from the grave to her car parked on Redfield Road. The complainant didn’t think anything of it at the time. However, when she returned to the cemetery on Wednesday, she found that flower arrangement baskets had been removed and other flowers dug up from her mother’s grave, and remembered the woman. She also inspected the other grave, noting that that burial had also been recent and that flowers had been dug up and scattered.

The complainant described the woman as a white female about 5’6” with short black hair, wearing dark clothing, who called herself “Lorena”. The vehicle was described as a 1992 gray Honda Accord. The case is under investigation.

Shoplifter at Stop & Shop

A Fairfield man was arrested Thursday after a shoplifting incident at Super Stop & Shop, 760 Villa Avenue.

According to police, at around 1:30 p.m., the store manager saw Gregory Fields, 38, of Fairfield Woods Road, place several items into a shopping cart and push the cart past registers and into the parking lot. Fields was detained, arrested on a charge of sixth-degree larceny and transported to police headquarters where he was released on a written promise to appear in court April 28.

DUI charged after erratic driving

A Weston man was arrested Friday for operating a motor vehicle under the influence after he was seen driving erratically.

According to police, while on patrol at around 1:30 a.m., an officer saw a black Ford pickup traveling north on Reef Road with all its windows rolled down. The officer followed the car, which turned west onto the Post Road and was stopping and weaving in an erratic fashion. The officer pulled over the vehicle, driven by Daniel Bennewitz, 25, of Norfield Road. The officer could smell an odor of an alcoholic beverage and administered sobriety tests, which Bennewitz failed. Bennewitz also admitted to having had three beers at the Sea Grape bar.

A $100 bond and court date of April 19 was set.