#Milford CT–On January 1, 2023, officers were dispatched to an E. Broadway residence for a domestic dispute. The victim stated that they got into a verbal argument with Ronald Jones. The argument escalated at which point Jones poured water over their head. Jones was charged with Disorderly Conduct. He was released on a promise to appear in court#Milford CT–On January 1, 2023, officers were dispatched to an E. Broadway residence for a domestic dispute. The victim stated that they got into a verbal argument with Ronald Jones. The argument escalated at which point Jones poured water over their head. Jones was charged with Disorderly Conduct. He was released on a promise to appear in court#seymour.
#Mildord CT– On January 2, 2023, officers were dispatched to the parking lot of Macy’s for a fight. The victim stated that they parked in the lot near Macy’s and saw Shawn Roby,42 of North Haven who was an acquaintance of theirs. When the victim embraced Roby for a hug, he pushed the victim away. Roby punched the victim in the face and then began to strike them in the ribs with his knee and foot while the victim was on the ground. Roby began to choke the victim before the mall security arrived. Roby was charged accordingly. He was charged with Breach of Peace 2nd Degree, Assault 3rd Degree, and Unlawful Restraint 2nd Degree. He was released on a promise to appear in court.
On January 4, 2023, officers were dispatched to Webster Bank for a fraud complaint. Bank personnel stated that a male had attempted to cash a check for $4,040 and the bank had verified that the check was fraudulent. The male was located down the street by officers and identified as Justin Drury, 21 of Ansonia. He was taken into custody and charged accordingly.
2023-01-04@ 5:54pm–#Bridgeport CT– #Milford CT–On Wednesday Bridgeport Police observed a vehicle allegedly involved with a homicide in another jurisdiction. Members from the Fairfield County Regional Auto Theft Task Force, which consist of members from the Bridgeport PD, began to follow the vehicle without lights and sirens from a distance onto I-95 northbound. The vehicle in the Milford area turned off all exterior lights in an attempt to elude any following vehicles and began to accelerate in speed and recklessly changed lanes. The vehicle exited the highway at Exit 37 where it was involved in an accident. Two of the three occupants fled the vehicle and a foot pursuit began. The suspects fled to a wooded area and were unable to be tracked by K9. The occupant that was detained Kaleem Uthmaan of Hamden was charged with C.G.S. 53a-48/53a-123 Conspiracy to Commit Larceny 2nd degree, C.G.S. 53a-126b Criminal Trover 2nd degree, C.G.S. 53a-167a Interfering with Police. Uthmaan was held in lieu of $150,000 bond, pending his arraignment in court. The vehicle reported stolen out of Waterbury, was being processed by New Haven Police.
#Milford CT– On December 29, 2022, officers were dispatched to Pilot at 433 Old Gate Lane for a fight. The victim stated that they were approached by Efrain Rodriguez, 41 of Stratford who began to make derogatory remarks toward them, including racial slurs.
Rodriguez was told to leave the premises by security, and he refused. Rodriguez got close to the victim and pushed them. After being separated by onlookers, Rodriguez fled. Officers spotted Rodriguez on Old Gate Lane and Rodriguez attempted to run and refused to comply. Rodriguez acted aggressively and attempted to fight officers on the scene. Rodriguez was taken into custody and charged accordingly. He was released on a promise to appear.
#Milford CT–On September 2, 2022, the Connecticut State Police Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force (SOCITF) learned of a complaint from a resident of Milford, Connecticut, regarding a larceny by false pretenses. This larceny resulted in the loss of $41,150.00 when the victim was scammed into depositing the money into a series of Bitcoin ATM machines. The incident was also reported to the Milford Police Department, and it was determined that SOCITF would assume the investigation. The funds were traced to two major cryptocurrency exchanges located in both the United States and the Cayman Islands. During the month of September, SOCITF investigators were able to recover a portion of the Bitcoin from the two exchanges. Investigators learned that the suspects reside outside of the United States and no arrest is anticipated at this time. The seized funds, amounting to approximately $23,000.00, were returned to the victim on 12/30/2022 as a result of a successful restitution action before the Milford Superior Court.
Scams involving cryptocurrency are on the rise and are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. While it is possible for law enforcement to investigate these cases and possibly make a recovery, time is of the essence. If you believe that you are the victim of a scam, make a report to your local police department or local State Police troop as soon as possible and file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, at www.consumerfinance.gov
#Milford CT–On December 28, officers were dispatched to Gulf Street near Dock Road for a woman being thrown from a vehicle. Upon arrival, the suspect, Mandel Givens, was attempting to leave the scene and was detained after a brief struggle with the officers. Witnesses stated seeing a vehicle at the side of the road and a woman screaming for help. The victim stated that while giving Givens a ride, he attempted to take the keys of the vehicle and grabbed the steering wheel. When they pulled over, a struggle ensued, and Givens threw the victim to the ground. The victim screamed for help and a group of Good Samaritans attempted to intervene and tried to stop Givens from fleeing. Givens was taken into custody and charged with
On November 14, 2022, Julie Minogue came to the police department to file a complaint against Ewen Dewitt for sending her over 200 text messages from November 12-14, 2022, violating the Protective Order that prohibited him from harassing her. Officer Knablin interviewed Julie, and he collected the evidence from her cell phone records that she later provided.
On Friday November 18, 2022, Officer Knablin completed an arrest warrant application for Ewen Dewitt, charging him with Violation of a Protective Order. Per policy, the arrest warrant application was reviewed by a supervisor, and both the supervisor and the officer believed that the arrest warrant application contained the
requisite Probable Cause to support the charge that the text messages sent by Mr. Dewitt violated the modified Protective Order that was issued on January 15, 2021. When court re-opened on November 21, 2022, the warrant application was submitted to the Ansonia/Milford State’s Attorney’s Office. That same day, the Assistant State’s Attorney denied the warrant and sent it back to Officer Knablin requesting additional
information be provided.
As per policy, Officer Knablin had an obligation to gather that information requested by the Assistant State’s Attorney and resubmit the arrest warrant application as soon as possible. A formal Internal Affairs Investigation has been initiated regarding the timeliness of his response. Officer Knablin has been placed on administrative
leave pending the outcome of the Internal Investigation into his actions.
On Friday, December 9, 2022, after consultation with the State’s Attorney, the arrest warrant application was transferred to a Detective and a new arrest warrant application was initially drafted. The final arrest warrant for Ewen Dewitt was completed and signed by the State’s Attorney’s Office on Thursday December 14th, charging Dewitt with Violation of a Protective Order and Harassment 2nd Degree for sending Julie Minogue over 200 text messages over a period of two days.
Several hours after the homicide occurred on December 6th, our officers located Ewen Dewitt hiding in a trailer in the City of West Haven and took him into custody. The investigation into the death of Julie Minogue is ongoing by our Detective Division and the State’s Attorney’s Office. Our efforts will be exhaustive to determine not just how this crime happened, but also what motivated Ewen Dewitt to commit this crime.
I am meeting with our state legislative delegation on Friday to discuss ways to enhance the Judicial GPS Press Release Monitoring Program for offenders of domestic violence, including expanding the criteria for their use. We are committed to working collaboratively with the State’s Attorney’s Office, the Judicial Department, Victim’s
Services, , and the Mental Health Community to further enhance our ability to protect victims of domestic violence.
On October 2, 2022, Milford Police responded to Dockside Brewery, 40 Bridgeport Ave, for an alarm. Upon arrival, officers discovered that the business had been burglarized. Investigation led to an arrest warrant for Vincent Laconte, 25, of 720 Light Street in Stratford. Laconte was taken into custody on December 12, 2022.
Laconte was charged with:
Burglary Third Degree
Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree
Laconte was released on a $15,000 bond and will appear in Milford Court on January 10, 2023
