Local Crime Stats Increase

By Andrew Gorosko

Crime statistics for 2006 compiled by town police indicate increases in three types of crime — larceny, burglary, and robbery.

Although the incidence of robberies is relatively low, there were three robberies locally in 2006, compared to no robberies in 2005.

In a bold armed robbery on November 14, three men holding firearms entered the Western Connecticut Federal Credit Union, a private bank at 15 Berkshire Road (Route 34) in Sandy Hook, and threatened violence, demanding cash, after which they made off with an undisclosed amount of money. The robbers were armed with long-barreled firearms. The FBI is investigating the case, which remains unsolved.

On Halloween night, October 31, two males brandishing handguns and threatening violence made off with an unspecified amount of cash in an armed robbery at Buzz’s Mobil gas station at 286 South Main Street in Botsford. The crime remains unsolved.

On January 16, 2006, police arrested an Easton man on robbery, theft, and reckless endangerment charges following an incident at the Big Y supermarket at Newtown Shopping Village at 6 Queen Street.

In that case, the assailant attempted to leave the store with almost $200 worth of items without paying for them. After a security guard attempted to stop the man, the man ran off into the parking lot, pushed the guard to the ground, and then drove off, almost running over the guard, police have said. Police later arrested the assailant.

The number of robberies reported locally from 1999 to 2004 ranged from one case to four cases annually, with a peak of four robberies occurring in 2001.

Police said they received reports of 205 larcenies, or thefts, occurring in 2006, compared to 196 such crimes reported in 2005. That represents an almost 4.6 percent increase in the incidence of that crime.

During the period from 1999 to 2004, the number of larcenies ranged from a low of 141 larcenies in 2001, to a high of 237 larcenies in 2003. In 2006, police solved 18 larcenies.

Police said they received reports of 57 burglaries in 2006, compared to 47 burglaries in 2005. That represents a 21.2 percent increase in that crime.

During the period from 1999 to 2004, the annual number of burglaries ranged from a low of 43 in 1999 to a high of 66 in 2000. In 2006, police solved six burglaries.

In 2006, police investigated eight cases of motor vehicle theft, compared to nine instances of that crime in  2005. The highest incidence of motor vehicle theft during the past eight years occurred in 1999, when 18 cases were reported to police.

There were no murders reported to police in 2006. During the preceding seven years, there were two murders – one in 2005, and one in 1999.

In 2006, police received one report of a rape.

The number of aggravated assaults, or serious assaults was low in 2006, with one case reported. During the seven years preceding 2006, there were a total of 36 such assaults, with the peak incidence coming in the year 2004, when ten aggravated assaults were reported to police.

Police investigated only one case of arson in 2006. In each of the preceding three years, there had been four cases of arson reported.

In 2006, police issued 2,323 violations to motorists. Those violations include infractions and misdemeanor summonses. In the preceding year, 2,010 such violations were issued.

Also, police handed out 1,757 written warnings to motorists in 2006, and issued approximately 1,400 verbal warnings to motorists.

In 2006, police arrested 102 motorists on drunken driving charges. In the preceding year, 85 such violations were issued, reflecting a 20 percent increase in such cases. By comparison, in 2004 police made 58 drunken driving arrests.

Notably, the number of drunken driving arrests made in 2006 is almost 76 percent higher than the number of such arrests made in 2004.

Through a special grant program in 2006, town police spent 617 man-hours on drunken driving enforcement, including 217 man-hours at sobriety checkpoints and 400 man-hours in roving patrols.

Police report they made 18,964 service calls in 2006, averaging out to 52 such calls per day.       

Asked to comment on the crime statistics for 2006, Police Chief Michael Kehoe said, “I don’t see any trends of a nature that would concern the community.”

Chief Kehoe said he analyzes the crime statistics from a long-range perspective. The statistics provided by police date back to 1999, the year which Chief Kehoe assumed command of the police department.