Crime & Safety

New Canaan Cops: Thieves Get Away—Caught on Merritt

New Canaan police accuse these four of using the Merritt Parkway to get away from a late afternoon store theft -- likely making them the most frustrated travelers on the highway during Thursday's rush hour.

A team of four thieves stole perhaps thousands of dollars worth of items from Radio Shack at 94 Park St. late Thursday afternoon after distracting a store clerk, and they were able to rush out and get away, New Canaan police said.

But, police said, they weren't able to get away forever.

New Canaan police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Witnesses who saw the quartet rush out of the store and into their car were able to give police good descriptions of them and their vehicle.

New Canaan police shared that description with other police agencies on the Fairfield County Police Hotline, and within an hour, state police stopped the car on the Merritt Parkway near Exit 47 (which is at about this spot, according to Google Maps).

It took about an hour between the initial report to New Canaan police at 5:16 p.m. and the report from Connecticut State Police at 6:10 p.m.

(It's not hard to imagine that the vehicle got caught up in normal evening rush hour traffic on Fairfield County highways. One possible route between those two locations, according to Google Maps, should take about 22 minutes -- not factoring in the regular rush hour clog.)

New Canaan police officers went to the scene of the vehicle stop and arrested the four (police didn't say how long it took to get there).

Inside the vehicle, police found more than $8,000 in stolen merchandise, along with tools used to disable security devices. The loot had been taken not only from the Park Street Radio Shack but from other stores in the chain as well.

All four of these thieves were from Springfield, MA (see attached pictures for their mug shots):

  • Diana Andino, 26
  • Devron Brady also known as Richard Hector, 22
  • Crystal Hill, 22
  • Deandre Jones, also known as Troy Goldson, 20

Except for Hill, the suspects all had criminal records.

Each arrestee was charged with third-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny, third-degree larceny by possession and possession of a shoplifting device.

Brady and Jones each provided false identification to police, which was caught through an electronic fingerprint database, which revealed that Jones had an active arrest warrant from Enfield, CT on a larceny charge. So Brady and Jones each was also charged with interfering with a police officer, criminal impersonation and second degree forgery.


Andino and Hill were each held on $75,000 bonds. Jones and Brady were each held on $100,000 bonds. All four were scheduled to appear Friday morning in state Superior Court in Norwalk.

New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski praised police and witnesses: "The success of this investigation is the direct result of the diligence and aggressiveness of the members of the New Canaan Police Department’s Investigative Section and Patrol Division, witnesses that provided critical information to investigating officers, and the Connecticut State Police, Troop G."

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