UPDATE: An incident in this series of reports was amended on June 12, 2023 at 3:30 pm to update a dismissal of charges against Brian Nutter.

Stolen SUV

Police report that sometime between 11:18 pm on January 15 and 4:28 am on January 16, a silver-colored 2017 Honda CR-V SUV was stolen from a property at 23 Indian Hill Lane in Sandy Hook.

Anyone who saw anything suspicious occur in that area during that time period is asked to contact investigating Officer Steven Borges at the police station at 203-426-5841.

Police remind residents that they should keep their vehicles secured when unattended to deter theft.

DUI Incident

Police said that after observing a vehicular violation, at about 9:30 pm on January 13, they stopped motorist Paul Berard, 53, of Newtown, near 5 Church Hill Road to investigate.

Police said they charged Berard with driving under the influence and with failure to maintain the proper lane. After arrest processing, Berard was released on $500 bail for a January 28 court appearance to answer the charges.

Crabapple Lane Vandalism

Police report a vandalism spree by unknown persons on Crabapple Lane, a residential street that connects Mountain Laurel Lane to Osborne Hill Road in Sandy Hook.

Police said that sometime overnight on January 11-12, someone vandalized properties at Crabapple Lane. The vandals damaged multiple curbside residential mailboxes. Some mailboxes were ripped off their footings and thrown to the ground on the owners’ properties, while other mailboxes were tossed elsewhere.

Police ask anyone with knowledge about the criminal mischief to contact them at the police station at 203-426-5841 in regard to Case #2020-968.

Wrong Way/DUI

State police said that they spotted motorist Brian Nutter, 36, of Manchester, driving eastward in the westbound lanes of Interstate 84, near Exit 10, at about 4:33 am on January 12, so they stopped him to investigate.

State police arrested Nutter on charges of driving under the influence and driving the wrong way on a divided highway. After arrest processing at the Troop A Barracks in Southbury, state police released Nutter from custody on $2,500 bail for an arraignment on the charges before a judge on January 29 in Connecticut Superior Court in Danbury.

According to certified documents provided to The Newtown Bee on June 12, 2023, all charges related to this case were dismissed by the State of Connecticut Superior Court on March 11, 2020.

Evading

Sometime midday on January 12, while a white 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV was parked unoccupied in front of the Big Y market, near the CVS store, at Newtown Shopping Village, 6 Queen Street, someone driving an unknown blue vehicle struck the Volkswagen, denting it, police said. The impact caused some blue paint on the offending vehicle to transfer onto the white Volkswagen.

The offending driver drove away from the scene. Police ask anyone with knowledge of the incident to contact them at 203-426-5841 in regard to Case #2020-977.

Arrest Warrants

On the afternoon of January 12 police said they stopped motorist Juan Carlos Flores, 26, of West Haven, near Berkshire Road, to investigate a possible violation.

Police said they then learned that there were three outstanding arrest warrants against Flores.

Police charged Flores with three separate counts of second-degree failure to appear in court. After processing, police released Flores on $1,500 bail for court appearances on January 22 and 23.

Failure To Appear

Police said that while on patrol about 4:43 pm on January 10, on Mt Pleasant Road, near Diamond Drive, they stopped a motorist after spotting him failing to maintain the travel lane.

After investigating, Newtown police learned that there was an outstanding arrest warrant pending against motorist Jeremy Mershon Currier, 31, of Sandy Hook. Police charged Currier on a warrant with second-degree failure to appear in court in connection with a traffic summons that was issued in 2019 by Ridgefield police.

After arrest processing, Currier posted $500 bail and was released for a January 22 court appearance.

Cadillac Hits Honda

Police report that at about 7:22 pm on January 10, motorist Nicole Kraus, 27, of Newtown, who was driving a 2012 Honda Civic northward near 154 South Main Street, braked hard and then turned to the left to avoid striking northbound traffic up ahead that had slowed suddenly.

Northbound motorist Isabella Satmary, 18, of Newtown, who was driving a 2005 Cadillac CTS sedan northward, also braked, but struck the rear end of the Honda. There were no injuries. Police verbally warned Satmary for following too closely.

Foreign Object

At about 10:30 am on January 9, an object apparently fell from the area near a 1997 Kenworth w-900 construction truck being driven by Andrew Turmel, 21, of Oxford, on eastbound Interstate 84, east of Exit 9, state police said.

That unknown object reportedly struck a nearby 2010 Cadillac Escalade SUV driven by Galo Coronel, 45, of Danbury. There were no injuries, However, due to conflicting statements and a lack of evidence, no fault could be determined, so no enforcement action was taken.

Thefts From Vehicles

Police said they received reports involving the theft of items from within multiple unlocked motor vehicles sometime overnight on January 8-9. Those thefts occurred at a residential property on Horseshoe Ridge Road, near its intersection with Yearling Lane. The vehicles from which the unspecified items were stolen were parked in a driveway. Police are investigating the thievery and ask anyone with knowledge of the crimes to contact them at the police station at 203-426-5841.

Such crimes occur sporadically in town. As a deterrent, police urge motorists to keep their vehicles locked when unattended, to remove items from within such vehicles, and to park in well-lighted areas in the nighttime.

South Main Street

Police report a two-vehicle accident on South Main Street, at its intersection with Mile Hill Road, about 8:43 am on January 8. Both vehicles involved in the collision had a green traffic signal at the intersection.

Motorist Filomena Moura, 63, of Danbury, was driving a 2014 Nissan Rogue SUV northward on South Main Street in the straight-ahead lane, as motorist Christina Wasiczko, 17, of Brookfield, was driving a 2009 Lexus IS-250 sedan southward on South Main Street in the left-turn-only lane, police said. The Lexus then attempted to turn left onto Mile Hill Road and the two vehicles collided.

There were no injuries. Police verbally warned Wasiczko for failure to grant the right of way.

Bus Accident

Police report an accident involving an auto and a local school bus that was carrying child passengers about 8:52 am on January 7, near the northern intersection of South Main Street and Pecks Lane. There were no injuries.

Police said that Richard Tarantino, 69, of Newtown, was driving a 2019 Blue Bird school bus northward on South Main Street and then stopped for traffic conditions, after which the bus was struck from behind by a northbound 2008 Mazda 3 auto driven by Sydney Rachel Stewart, 24, of Monroe.

The incident caused travel delays in the area. Police issued Stewart a written warning for following too closely.

Busy Intersection

At 5:23 pm on January 7, motorist Mark Rodriguez, 41, of Wolcott, who was driving a 2017 Jeep Patriot SUV westward on Berkshire Road, stopped in the left-turn-only lane and was waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so that he could turn left onto Wasserman Way, when the Jeep was struck from behind by a westbound 2005 Subaru Legacy sedan driven by Miguel Candelario, 34, of Waterbury, police said.

There were no injuries. Police verbally warned Candelario for failure to drive a reasonable distance apart.

Three Vehicles

On eastbound Interstate 84 , east of Exit 10, at about 5:13 pm on January 6, motorist Cheryl Tierney, 45, of Southbury, who was driving a 2019 GMC Acadia SUV, and motorist Jeanne Potter, 66, of Southbury, who was driving a 2016 Toyota RAV-4 SUV, both slowed for traffic conditions, after which a 2016 Hyundai Sonata sedan driven by Bryan Watson, 40, of Southbury, struck the rear end of the Toyota, pushing the Toyota into the rear end of the GMC, state police said.

There were no injuries. State police issued Watson an infraction for following too closely.

Jeep Vs BMW

At 5:48 am on January 2, motorist Lee Horowitz, 32, of Newtown, was driving a 2014 BMW 328-XI sedan southward on Edmond Road, as motorist Joseph Heneghan, 66, of Waterbury, was driving a 2016 Jeep Wrangler SUV out of the Edmond Road driveway at Wheels gas station, resulting in the two vehicles colliding, police said.

There were no injuries. Police verbally warned Heneghan for making an improper turn.