Eleven Charges

On the night of December 8, Stratford police contacted Newtown police to inform them that they had Mario Cruz, 41, of Bridgeport in custody in Stratford.

Newtown police then executed a January 2010 arrest warrant against Cruz concerning a 2009 incident, resulting in Cruz being charged with one count of second-degree larceny and with ten counts of second-degree forgery. All of the charges are felonies.

Newtown police report that they released Cruz from custody on $10,000 bail for a December 22 arraignment in Danbury Superior Court.

Nine Offenses

Police report that at about 8:25 am on December 11, they spotted motorist Ratha Hou, 20, of Bridgeport driving a vehicle that had no front marker plate and had darkly tinted window glass, so they stopped him to investigate on South Main Street, near Sand Hill Plaza.

Police said they charged Hou with possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, alteration of a firearm, possession of alcohol by a minor, carrying a pistol without a permit, carrying a dangerous weapon, driving a vehicle with a suspended registration, failure to have automotive insurance, having darkly tinted automotive windows without a permit, and failure to have a front marker plate.

Following arrest processing, police released Hou on $5,000 bail for a December 22 court appearance.

Chrysler Vs Kia

Police report a two-vehicle accident in the parking lot at the Blue Colony Diner at 66 Church Hill Road at about 6:35 pm on December 10.

In that incident, motorist Emil Gaugler, 67, of Wolcott, who was driving a 2000 Chrysler 300-M sedan, was backing out of a parking space, as motorist Michael Bonetti, 43, of Morris, who was driving a 2006 Kia Sorrento SUV, was traveling in the parking lot before the collision occurred, police said.

There were no injuries. Police took no enforcement.

Church Hill Road

At about 4:27 pm on December 5, motorist Janice Daiuto, 57, of 141 Lakeview Terrace, who was driving a 2004 Toyota Corolla sedan eastward on Church Hill Road, attempted to make a left turn into a gas station lot at 47 Church Hill Road, as motorist Emmelynne Toussaint, 25, of Stamford was driving a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder SUV westward on Church Hill Road, according to police.

The two vehicles collided. There were no injuries. Police said Daiuto received an infraction for failure to grant the right of way.

Hawleyville Accident

Police report that motorist Rangaraj Melkote, 24, of New York City was driving a 2006 Ford Mustang coupe westward near 142 Mt Pleasant Road and then slowed, after which the Ford was struck from behind by westbound motorist Sharon Stilson, 68, of Bethel, who was driving a 2003 Hyundai Sonata sedan.

There were no injuries. Police said they issued Stilson a written warning for failure to drive a reasonable distance apart. Police said Melkote received a written warning for failure to carry a vehicle registration card and for failure to carry an automotive insurance identification card.

Intersection Crash

A two-vehicle accident occurred at the intersection of Berkshire Road and Wasserman Way at about 6 pm on December 9.

Police said the collision involved motorist Louis Gurliacci, 59, of Stamford, who was driving a 2010 Subaru Legacy sedan, and motorist Jeffrey Cryder, 46, of 30 Clearview Drive, who was driving  2004 Honda Odyssey minivan.

There were no injuries. Police report they verbally warned Gurliacci for failure to obey a traffic control signal.

Highway DUI

State police report that at about 10:45 pm on December 8, motorist Edward Moroney, 51, of 5 Housatonic Drive, who was driving an unspecified vehicle eastward on Interstate 84, was approaching the Exit 10 interchange and then entered a road construction zone marked by signs, traffic cones, and traffic barrels.

State police said they stopped Moroney to investigate, after which they charged him with driving under the influence, violating a traffic law in a construction zone, drinking alcohol while driving, and failure to drive in the proper lane.

After processing, state police released Moroney on $500 bail for a December 19 court appearance.

Rochambeau Bridge

State police said that at about 8:05 am on December 1, motorist Dan Nofs, 63, of Avon, who was driving a 2006 Dodge Caravan minivan westward at Rochambeau Bridge on Interstate 84, slowed for traffic conditions and was then struck from behind by westbound motorist Joshua McKenzie, 27, of Stratford, who was driving a 1997 Ford Escort.

There were no injuries.  State police said McKenzie received an infraction for following too closely.

 

Warrant

After learning that police held a warrant for his arrest, Andrew Eriquez, 23, of 3 Hawthorne Hill Road, turned himself over to police at the police station about 2 pm on December 12 and was charged with second-degree failure to appear in court, simple trespassing, interfering with police, and possession of drug paraphernalia, police report.

Police said the original charges stem from an incident that occurred on September 19, 2009, on private property at Saw Mill Road.

Following processing, police released Eriquez on $500 bail for a December 20 court appearance.

Sugar Street Incident

Police said that at about 9:19 pm on December 12, they stopped motorist Joseph Alarcon, 24, of Monroe  near 122 Sugar Street (Route 302) for traveling 53 miles per hour in a posted 40-mph zone.

After investigating, police charged Alarcon with traveling too fast, failure to carry a driver’s license, failure to carry vehicle registration/automotive insurance documents, and failure to keep prescription narcotics in their original container.

Police said they held Alarcon on $25,000 bail for a December 13 court arraignment.

DUI Arrest

Police report that while on patrol about 1:12 am on December 13, they spotted motorist Kevin Cortina, 42, of 9 Great Quarter Road not staying in his travel lane while driving near 172 South Main Street, so they stopped Cortina to investigate.

Police said they charged Cortina with driving under the influence and with failure to drive to the right.

Following processing, Cortina was released on $100 bail for a January 3 court appearance, police report.

Two Violations

Police report that at about 10 pm on December 8, they stopped motorist Michael Elam, Jr, 21, of Danbury for traveling at a high speed on Wasserman Way, near its intersection with Nunnawauk Road.

After an investigation, police charged Elam with traveling unreasonably fast and with driving with a suspended license.

Elam was released on $100 bail for a December 22 court appearance, police said.

 

         Moving Violations

Police report that they spotted motorist Thomas Cantillo, 42, of Orange speaking on a handheld cellphone while driving a vehicle westward on Wasserman Way about 9:05 am on December 13, so they stopped him to investigate.

Police said they charged Cantillo with illegal use of a handheld cellphone while driving and with driving with a suspended license.

Police said they released Cantillo on $100 bail for a December 23 court appearance.

Truck Vs Flagpole

At about 11:23 am on December 13, motorist Samuel Debartolo, 58, of Huron, Ohio, who was driving a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, was attempting to make a left turn from westbound Church Hill Road onto southbound Main Street, police said.

In attempting to make that turn, the truck struck the Main Street flagpole, police said.

Police said Debartolo told them that he did not see the flagpole due to sun glare. There were no injuries. Police said they issued Debartolo a written warning for making a restricted turn.

Tractor-Trailer

Police report that tractor-trailer truck driver Shane Thomas Allen, 23, of Casa Grande, Ariz., was attempting to make a left turn from eastbound Mt Pleasant Road onto northbound Hawleyville Road about 3:48 pm on December 12, when the truck’s trailer struck a state traffic sign that was posted on a road median at the intersection, damaging the sign and the trailer.

There were no injuries. Police said they verbally warned Allen for failure to drive to the right.