Police Blotter for Monday, June 14

A 24-year-old Fairfield man accused of fighting with the mother of his children early Saturday was arrested on charges of third-degree strangulation, third-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

Robert Cortina, of Black Rock Turnpike, was released on $1,000 bond, pending an appearance today in Bridgeport Superior Court, police said.

Police said the dispute arose over who was supposed to watch their children and that Cortina put his 26-year-old wife in a chokehold during the 3 a.m. dispute.

A 44-year-old Shelton man accused of siphoning gasoline from a car parked at Fairfield Motor Works on Commerce Drive in Fairfield early Sunday was arrested on charges of third-degree criminal trespass, third-degree criminal mischief and sixth-degree larceny.

Michael Begnoche, of Roberts Street, was held in lieu of $2,500 bond, pending an appearance June 22 in Bridgeport Superior Court.

Police said the owner of Fairfield Motor Works drove by the business about 2 a.m. Sunday because of recent vandalism and saw a red van in the driveway and a man walking around the property. Begnoche was siphoning gas from a Jeep into a gas can and then putting the gas into the van, police said. Officers found Begnoche hiding behind trees in the back of the lot, police said.

A 43-year-old Fairfield woman accused of getting into a fight with her 15-year-old children was arrested late Sunday on charges of second-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree threatening, disorderly conduct, two counts of third-degree assault and four counts of risk of injury to a minor.

Tina Marie Franz, of Tunxis Hill Road, was released on $5,000 bond, pending an appearance today in Bridgeport Superior Court, police said.

Police said officers were alerted to the incident by a patron at Bill's Crossroads, a bar on Tunxis Hill Road in Fairfield, who saw Franz in the bar bleeding from her arm.

Franz had arrived at her house intoxicated and fought with her 15-year-old children, police said. She threatened her 15-year-old son with kitchen knives and injured her 15-year-old daughter when Franz punched a glass window, causing it to shatter, police said.

Franz' 3-year-old and 4-year-old daughters were awakened by the fighting, which took place about 11:42 p.m., police said.

Franz' 15-year-old daughter, who had cuts to her face and one of her feet from the broken glass, was taken by American Medical Response to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport for treatment, police said.

Franz then left the house and went to Bill's Crossroads, police said.

Six M-16 magazines, a Kevlar helmet, a medical kit and several articles of cold-weather clothing, with a combined value of about $1,500, were reported stolen from a car parked in a driveway on Lover's Lane in Fairfield sometime during the two weeks that preceded Saturday morning, police said.

The theft from the car's owner, who is a U.S. Marine, was reported to police at 8 a.m. Saturday, police said. There was no sign of forced entry to the car, police said.

Four steel structural plates used for a hydraulic lift for a car were reported stolen from the backyard of a house on North Benson Road in Fairfield sometime between Thursday and 4:03 p.m. Saturday, police said. The plates were valued at a total $100, police said.

A Sirius satellite radio valued at $50 was reported stolen from a car parked on Halley Avenue in Fairfield sometime between 2 a.m. and noon on Friday, police said.

Firefighters extinguished a fire in a dumpster on the east side of Roger Sherman School in Fairfield early today.

Police said the fire appeared to have been set, either by tossing lit fireworks into it or by lighting cardboard boxes on fire about 3 a.m.