Woodbridge police arrested a New Haven man after responding to a report of a suspicious man on a bike looking into yards. They said he’s accused of stealing a vehicle battery.
Police said they responded to Manila Avenue around 10:30 a.m. Monday after a resident contacted them and found 57-year-old Leonard Flynn, of New Haven, who matched the description of the suspicious man. He was riding a bicycle on Bradley Road and had a vehicle battery attached to the back of the bike, according to police.
There was an outstanding arrest warrant for him out of West Haven, police said, and officers also found drug paraphernalia on Flynn.
Before being turning Flynn over to the West Haven Police Department, Woodbridge police charged him with possession of drug paraphernalia. He is due in court on July 6.
More charges came after a resident on Bradley Road in Woodbridge contacted police later on Monday and reported his or her vehicle was broken into and the vehicle’s battery was stolen.
Security camera footage showed Flynn entering the property where the battery was stolen, police said.
He was charged with burglary in the third degree, third-degree criminal mischief, criminal trespass in the third degree and larceny in the sixth degree and will be arraigned on July 6.
When UConn’s board of trustees meets today, the members are expected to give final approval on the budget for next year, but tuition could go up more than originally planned in the future.
Tuition at UConn might increase more than expected for the 2019-2020 school year. There was already a plan for tuition to increase $950 for in-state students.
The UConn Board of Trustees’ financial affairs committee looked at the proposed budget for the 2018-2019 school year earlier this month and the university’s budget officials warned board members that balancing the budget could be more difficult in the future and force them to raise tuition.
UConn Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said it is because of three reasons:
1. UConn keeps getting less money from the state
2. The university has to pay more in unfunded pension liabilities. That is driving the cost of fringe benefits up from $148.3 million in 2011 to a projected $277 million in 2019. That only includes costs for Storrs and the regional campuses, not the UConn Health workers.
3. The university has to contribute to the recent pact the state made with unionized employees. The $2,000 one-time payment that each employee gets amounts to $20 million in costs for UConn. Only part of those costs is reimbursed.
All of these factors could lead to a larger tuition increase for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. UConn already had a four-year tuition increase scheduled.
Reitz said any change to tuition would be discussed over this next year and could take effect at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year.
No decisions on tuition increases will be made today.
Police have arrested a woman after a stabbing in Groton on Tuesday.
Officers say they were called to the intersection of Flanders Road and Gold Star Highway around 5:30 p.m. for a reported stabbing. Once police arrived, they learned the victim and suspect knew each other.
According to police, 18-year-old Nateya Linton of Groton was driving and encountered the 19-year-old female victim at another location in town. Linton followed behind her vehicle until the victim stopped at the intersection of Flanders Road and Gold Star Highway. When the victim left her vehicle, Linton left hers, too.
When the victim returned to her vehicle, officers say Linton approached the victim's vehicle, reached through an open window and stabbed the victim in her arm with a sharp instrument. Police say Linton used threatening language before she left the scene in her vehicle.
Police say the victim suffered non-life threatening injuries and had cuts on her arms. She was treated at the scene by members of the Old Mystic Fire Department and was transported by ambulance to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London.
Officers were able to identify Linton and the vehicle she was driving to broadcast to police in the area. A Groton police officer on patrol saw Linton's vehicle a short time later traveling south on Poquonnock Road and conducted a motor vehicle stop. Linton was arrested without incident and transported to the Groton Police Department for processing.
Linton is facing charges including assault, reckless endangerment, breach of peace, threatening and harassment. She was held on a $25,000 bond and is in court on Wednesday.
The NBC Connecticut First Alert meteorologists are tracking the potential for strong thunderstorms that could bring damaging winds and torrential downpours Thursday morning and throughout the day.
Some isolated rain showers are possible today, but the better chance is for rain overnight and storms Thursday morning as a storm system moves east. A few storms are also possible Thursday afternoon.
The highs Thursday will be in the mid- to upper-70s.
Then the heat moves in Friday and it will continue through the weekend and into early next week. The NBC Connecticut meteorologists have issued a First Alert for the dangerous heat.
Keep an eye on the interactive radar to track the storm threat.
The executive director of Village at Mariner’s Point, a senior citizen assisted-living facility in East Haven, is accused of stealing Oxycodone from a patient and police said she admitted to doing so.
A patient told police on June 19 that she suspected that someone kept going into her apartment while she was at her doctor’s appointments to steal from her, according to police.
She then went to her doctor with suspicions and followed the doctor’s recommendation to buy a hidden camera to try and catch the thief in the act.
While she was at a doctor’s appointment, she received a notification on her phone, alerting her to motion.
The video showed a woman in a pink patterned dress and police said the victim was able to identify the woman as 39-year-old Barbara Camillo, the executive director of Village at Mariner’s Point.
The video showed snapshots of Camillo rummaging through the victim’s personal things in what the resident believed was a search for keys to a locked toolbox where she keeps oxycodone is kept, according to a news release from police.
Police said another set of video snapshots showed Camillo standing over an unlocked toolbox with an orange pill bottle in her hand.
The victim told police that there was no lawful reason for Camillo to be in her apartment going through her medication box.
After a brief interview with police, Camillo admitted to entering the resident’s apartment to steal Oxycodone and she turned several stolen pills over to the investigating officer, according to police.
Camillo was charged with burglary in the third degree, larceny in the sixth degree and possession of a controlled substance.
She was released on a $2,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in New Haven today.
Multiple Kohl's locations across the state are beginning to hire seasonal employees for back-to-school, fall and holiday seasons.
Seasonal positions are available at multiple locations including Killingly, Manchester, New Milford, Old Saybrook and Plainville.
Additional hiring will begin at all Kohl's stores, distribution and e-commerce fulfillment centers and credit operations nationwide in August and will continue through the holiday season.
Hiring needs are determined on an individual location basis, officials said.
To see the current available seasonal positions, click here.
Connecticut State Troopers from Troop F-Westbrook are looking for information following a burglary and an attempted burglary in Haddam.
On Monday at 3:28 a.m., troopers from Troop F-Westbrook responded to Deb's Restaurant on Saybrook Road in Haddam for a reported burglary, according to Connecticut State Police.
Troopers learned that the suspect used a crowbar to pry open the restaurant's side door. According to Connecticut State Police, cash was reported stolen from the restaurant.
Shortly after responding to Deb's Restaurant, Connecticut State Police said troopers were notified that the Middletown Police Department was investigating a reported break-in at Coyote Blue Restaurant at 1960 Saybrook Road in Middletown, just up the street from Deb’s Restaurant.
On Tuesday at around 5:13 a.m., troopers from Troop F responded to the Mobil gas station at 1016 Killingworth Road in Haddam for a reported attempted burglary, according to Connecticut State Police.
Police said the suspect attempted to force entry through the front door by prying the door frame with a crowbar and kicking it. The suspect was unable to enter.
According to Connecticut State Police, the suspect from the Deb's Restaurant burglary and Mobil gas station attempted burglary appear to be the same.
If anyone has any information about the burglary, attempted burglary or suspect/s is asked to call 860-345-2769 or Troop F at 860-399-2100. Calls can remain confidential.
Officers in Woodbridge are working to identify a man who was caught on video attempting to enter a locked vehicle in a driveway on Wednesday.
Police say they responded to several reports of thefts from unlocked vehicles from residents in neighborhoods off of Route 63 and Route 67.
According to officers, one of the residents gave them a video from around 5:00 a.m. that shows a man attempting to enter a vehicle that is parked in the resident's driveway. Police say when the man realized the vehicle was locked, he exited the property and met a vehicle waiting in the street.
Police are attempting to identify the man who is seen in the video attempting to enter the vehicle.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Woodbridge Police Department's Investigative Services Unit at (203) 287-2511.
Officers are reminding residents to keep their vehicles locked and report all suspicious activity to police.
Officers from Greenwich Police are searching for a man they believe is missing and endangered.
Police say they're looking for 42-year-old Christian Barr who was reported missing by his family members on Wednesday. He was last seen wearing a black windbreaker, dark pants, a baseball hat and sneakers on Tuesday shortly before 8:00 p.m. at 259 East Putnam Avenue.
Barr is described as a man with blue eyes and brown hair who is 5'8" tall and weighs 140 pounds.
Anyone with any information about Barr's whereabouts is asked to call Greenwich Police Department at (203) 622-8007.
Strawberry moon or not, there's a reason to look up in the sky tonight.
Stargazers will be able to see both Saturn and the moon on full display on Wednesday. The ringed planet will appear directly below a full moon at its brightest and closest point to Earth. June's full moon, appearing at its lowest point in the sky, has been pictured in the past giving off a light orange, yellow hue.
But there is some disagreement over what tonight's moon is called, according to NASA planetary expert Gordon Johnston.
The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published names of the full moons in the 1930s, naming them after what Native American tribes in the eastern U.S. had called them throughout the year.
June’s full moon is usually called the Strawberry Moon, but Johnston said it is “unclear” if the names were meant to be tied to European calendar months. There will be 13 full moons in 2018 instead of one for every month, which happens about every two or three years.
Johnston said it's more likely the Strawberry Moon is supposed to occur when strawberries are ripe, signaling their harvest.
Despite many reports teasing this month's Strawberry Moon, his NASA blog post touted the Strawberry Moon for May's full moon.
“Where I live in Virginia, the strawberries in my backyard were ripe around the time of the last full moon and are long past now,” Johnston said.
So what we’ll see tonight above Saturn? The first full moon of summer—known by the Algonquin tribe as the Buck Moon, Johnston said.
“Early summer is normally when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur,” Johnston wrote in a new blog post this week.
Either way, the full moon will appear at its lowest in the sky this week, which happens every year around the time of the summer solstice. Johnston said light from the moon shines through more air, giving it "more of a reddish color."
“This is especially true for the far northern latitudes of Europe," Johnston said.
The moon will be an even deeper red, ruddy-brown color during next month's "blood moon" on July 27, which will be the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century, space.com reported.
According to NASA, sky watchers can see Wednesday's two celestial events at their closest to each other around 11 p.m. EDT.
A Killingly mother faces risk of injury charges after her 3-year-old child ate THC-laced gummy candies, according to state police.
Police said that on May 10 police responded to Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam for a report of two children, ages 3 and 9, who may have ingested gummies containing Cannabidiol (CBD), a substance in cannabis.
According to the arrest warrant, the children’s grandmother called police when she noticed the 3-year-old behaving strangely. The grandmother said there was “something wrong with her eyes” and that the child was walking strangely, as if she was intoxicated.
The grandmother told police when she confronted her daughter, the children’s mother, she said that the child had eaten a CBD gummy. The mother, identified as 28-year-old Jessica Cusson, did not want to bring the children to the hospital, so the grandmother called police, according to the warrant.
The 3-year-old child was eventually taken to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center for treatment and tested positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
According to the warrant, the child’s 9-year-old brother told police that his mother, Cusson, sometimes gives him gummy candies to keep him calm. He also said she sometimes gives his sister half a gummy before bed.
When police spoke with Cusson, she initially told them that the toddler must have gotten into her stash of CBD gummies. According to police, CBD gummies are made with industrial hemp and are legal to purchase in Connecticut. However, according to the warrant, Cusson later admitted she also purchased THC-laced gummies, which she stores along with the CBD gummies. The THC-laced gummies are illegal in Connecticut.
The warrant states that when police visited Cusson’s home they discovered that she stored the gummies in a dresser in the living room, where the children could access them.
Cusson was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a minor. The Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident.
Nearly $1 million was stolen from CHET -- Connecticut Higher Education Trust -- accounts during a security breach and 21 account holders were affected, according to the Office of the State Treasurer.
Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier said that TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc., the CHET Direct program manager, alerted the state Treasury about the breach and will restore the affected accounts.
Nappier said unauthorized individuals gained online access to 21 CHET account holders and made 44 withdrawals, amounting to a total of $1,416,635, of that, $442,540 was recovered or stopped.
CHET is a 529 College Savings Plan.
The breach has not impacted customers with CHET Advisor accounts managed by The Hartford, according to the news release from the state.
Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are investigating.
A news release from Nappier said CHET account data and online systems are housed at and maintained by TFI and its service providers and TFI has implemented system enhancements to help protect against future fraudulent activity.
TFI will fully restore the impacted customers’ accounts and provide the account holders two years of identity fraud protection services, identity restoration services and $1 million in identity theft insurance coverage.
The state Treasury has also requested an independent audit of fraudulent account activity and an independent review of TFI’s cyber, telephone and manual security programs.
State officials said this is first time that they are aware of fraudulent account activity in CHET’s more than 20-year history.
“I am deeply concerned that these criminal activities have impacted CHET account holders,” Nappier said in a statement. “Until it happens to you, it’s hard to capture how unsettling it is when personal accounts have been compromised. I’ve been there. Every owner of the more than 150,000 CHET accounts can and should expect our vigilance and best efforts to ensure that their funds and information are protected.”
After a successful test run in the Greater Boston area earlier this year, Dunkin' Donuts has announced they are bringing donut fries to locations nationwide.
Dunkin' officials say starting July 2, donut fries will be available everywhere for the special price of $2 per order.
The fries, which are individual pieces of buttery croissant style donut dough tossed in cinnamon sugar and served warm, were tested at locations in Boston in Providence.
"There was a strong consumer response towards bringing Donut Fries to all Americans during the initial test, and we are excited to make this unique donut treat available nationwide this summer," said Tony Weisman, Chief Marketing Officer, Dunkin' Donuts U.S.
In addition to donut fries, Dunkin' has added the "chocolate coconutty donut" and the "shark bite donut" to the menu. They have also added a brown sugar cold brew.
After centuries in the farming business the Greenbacker family in Durham is preparing to shut down for good.
“It’s a shame what’s happening,” said Jeanette Bunnell, a Durham resident.
Joe Greenbacker’s family has been farming since the 1700s. They've been milking cows at Brookfield Farm in Durham for more than 30 years. Thursday will be the end of an era.
“The price of milk has been too low for too long and there’s not much prospect of it getting much better anytime soon,” Greenbacker said. “Rather than continue to go backwards financially we figured we better sell out now while we still have some equity in the business.”
The price of milk is set nationally. Greenbacker said dairy farms in New England have been declining for years because it’s tough to compete with larger farms out west.
“The areas there have lower cost, lower property taxes lower labor cost lower energy cost,” he explained.
The Greenbackers will walk the cows down this feeding alley for the very last time and auction them off one by one.
Joe’s daughter Melissa Dziurgot has worked on the farm all her life.
“It will be difficult to see hard work of raising them to be auctioned off,” Dziurgot said. “But I trust that they’re going to good farms and that the new owners will milk them and take care of them just as I did.”
In the past few weeks people have been leaving these little American flags by the Brookfield sign. A sign of the times for this American family.
“We work hard to take a care of this land, and take care of the cows people enjoy driving by and seeing the cows in the pasture,” Dziurgot said. “It means a lot to us that the community is heartbroken about this too.”
With store doors closing, a South Windsor mom saw an opportunity.
Jenna Schenk is giving up her family vacation this year after spending $2,000 at Babies R Us on hundreds of items to donate to mothers in need.
“This is our summer project,” she said. “I have three girls: 3, 4 and 6 years old. They asked me for a baby brother and said that’s not going to happen. So instead, we can be big sisters to our community and help lots of newborn babies.”
Babies R Us stores across the US are closing by July. So Schenk hit up her local store aiming to help others. She purchased things like blankets, strollers and clothes. It took multiple trips to transport all of the items.
“I saw her post and nobody had commented yet so I said, I have a minivan I’ll be right there,” said friend, Sharon Wells.
“A lot of these things end of being thrown in the trash so we wanted to get to them before they hit the trash,” Schenk said. “So we can pass them on to mothers with newborn babies who could use these things.”
Schenk is keeping the items she bought in a storage unit until she finds local organizations that will distribute it to families in need.
An NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters investigation has prompted a conversation about restroom accessibility for CT Transit bus drivers.
CT Transit admits that their driver broke their rules. Surveillance video obtained exclusively by the Troubleshooters shows an on-duty driver exiting his bus and urinating in some bushes along the side of a busy road in Manchester. But some CT Transit drivers say what was caught on camera isn’t the result of bad behavior, but the consequence of a problem they’ve been enduring for years -- not enough adequate restroom facilities on their routes.
As a result, some bus drivers avoid drinking water or eating before or during their work shifts. Others say they have resorted to wearing diapers so they can avoid having an embarrassing accident while in the driver's seat.
"We don't want to be in the public view relieving ourselves like the video showed. We don't want to have accidents driving the bus," said Mike Wendus, a longtime CT Transit Operator.
Wendus recalled the workday when there were no accessible restrooms around and he accidentally relieved himself in the bus driver's seat.
"You know, you're human," he said.
In telling his story publicly, Wendus is hoping for a change in how the company provides bathroom facilities.
"You're not going to get anything if you don't come to the table and talk," he said.
Wendus and hundreds of members of the local Amalgamated Transit Union said they have been calling on CT Transit and the state Department of Transportation, which own the bus service, to make more safe, clean restroom facilities available on all routes. Union leaders say, up to this point, CT Transit has not done much.
"It's a nightmare,” said Artan Martinaj, Business Agent for Local 425 ATU. "The management knew about it, but the public didn't and I'm glad the public can know the truth.”
CT Transit General Manager Cole Pouliot said while the issue may have been brought up to previous managers, this is the first time he has heard of it in the five months he has been at the helm.
Now there are signs of some relief down the road.
Pouliot said a new “bathroom committee” of sorts, made up of management and drivers, will soon be working on finally fixing this.
"The bathroom issue is complex as we have many different routes that are spread over a large service area,” Pouliot wrote in email to the Troubleshooters.
“Bathroom availability may change without notice as property owners change their position on allowing our employees access. This is one of many reasons why we never deny an operator's request to use the bathroom and routinely try and find restroom facilities along each route that drivers can use," Pouliot added.
"This will be an ongoing challenge that will need to continuously be addressed,” wrote Pouliot. “I look forward to finding specific, actionable ideas that will improve the service for customers and operators alike.”
Wendus said he has been waiting 28 years for this conversation to happen. In the last couple of weeks, he said he has noticed a new appreciation for what he and other drivers have been dealing with.
"Passengers that are concerned about us and stuff like that who didn't realize exactly what we go through," said Wendus. He said he will keep telling his story until the problem is fixed.
On Thursday morning, hundreds of CT Transit drivers from across the state are expected to take part in a rally for restroom access outside the Gold Building in downtown Hartford. The rally will take place from 10 a.m. to noon.
Police are investigating after a woman was found seriously injured on Route 12 in the Gales Ferry section of Ledyard Tuesday night.
Officers say they responded to a 911 call around 10:24 p.m. after a woman was found lying in a breakdown lane on Route 12 near Anderson Drive.
When officers arrived, they found a 33-year-old woman with apparent head injuries and abrasions. According to police, she was in a semi-conscious state, but was not able to communicate what happened to her or how she got her injuries.
First responders from Ledyard Ambulance and Gales Ferry Fire Company responded to the scene. The woman was transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and was later transferred to Yale. Medical professionals say the woman also has internal injuries. She is currently in the intensive care unit in serious, but stable condition.
Officers have not released the woman's identity. Police say they have not determined what caused her injuries.
Ledyard Police ask anyone who may have witnessed anything to contact them at (860) 464-6400. Calls can be kept confidential.
Ellen Baron of Warren treasures her antiques. She’s been collecting them since she was a teenager.
“I just like the history to some of it and imagining who had and how it was used,” said Baron.
Over the years, the Warren resident started accumulating a lot of items and even opened an antique business. Two years ago, Baron consigned a few of her pieces to On The Hunt Consignment shop in New Milford.
She signed a contract to consign four Stained-glass windows, a Victorian Lion’s Foot Chestnut Buffet and a Vintage Whiskey Jug. She said owner Gary Pelletier agreed to give her 50 percent of the sale.
“He had them for a while. They didn’t sell and then one day I’m driving around and see a sign that the store is going out of business,” said Baron.
Baron said the consignment shop shut down without warning.
“I got in touch with him and he said he tried to notify me,” said Baron. “I never got any emails or any notice.”
She said Pelletier informed her that he turned her items over to Middlebury Consignment Shop in Cornwall Bridge.
“He said get in touch with them. I’m waiting for them to pay me for the stuff, and when they do, I will pay you,” Baron said.
When Baron went to Middlebury Consignment, she recovered her stained-glass windows, but not her chestnut buffet or whiskey jug.
After going back and forth with both consignment shop owners, Baron contacted NBC Connecticut Responds.
We visited the On The Hunt consignment shop in New Milford and found an empty storefront. Nearby business owners told us it closed two years ago.
According to those business owners, Pelletier moved to Maine. He hasn’t responded to NBC Connecticut Responds for comment.
Baron discovered that On The Hunt sold her items to Middlebury Consignment before going out of business. She said On the Hunt never paid her for her portion of the proceeds.
We called and emailed Middlebury Consignment. We also paid the store a visit and were told the owner was unavailable and that we should speak with their attorney, Jeff Tinley.
Tinley confirmed that the items were indeed sold— $1600 for the chestnut buffet and $20 dollars for the jug. He said because Middlebury purchased the items outright from the first dealer, they are not obligated to pay Baron anything.
According to state law, while your goods are in possession of the consignee, they have the rights and title to transfer and keep them.
As a goodwill gesture, Tinley said Middlebury Consignment will pay Baron $800 for the sold pieces.
The US Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 could have a reverberating effect in Connecticut.
Union membership in Connecticut is already very high compared to most states. Roughly 165,000 workers are union members, accounting for 17 percent of all employees.
Of those workers, 43,000 are state employees, while there are tens of thousands of teachers, police, and firefighters among other public sector employees who could be impacted by the Janus decision.
“This could provide division in our ranks,” said Rick Hart, with the Uniformed Professional Firefighters Association of Connecticut.
Hart said the decision in Janus could lead to some firefighters deciding they do not want to pay for membership, while others remain paying members.
“This is an attempt to weaken us,” he said.
The decision by the US Supreme Court allows public sector employees who are covered by collective bargaining, to forego membership in a union, while receiving the benefits of that union when it comes to legal representation as well as the negotiation of salaries and benefits.
Supporters of the decision include fiscal conservatives, who say the decision strengthens workers’ rights when it comes to their membership in groups that promote political activity.
“Every government union worker has the right to decide for him or herself whether or not he or she wants to pay a union,” said Carol Platt Liebau, President of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a fiscal conservative thinktank based in Hartford. “Everyone under the Constitution has a first amendment right to make his or her own financial and membership decisions and we’re pleased that that was affirmed as a constitutional right for every state worker.”
The financial impact on public sector unions is not yet clear. Dues and fees vary based on bargaining unit.
It’s also not clear how many people in state and local government opted out of being union members even if they were covered by collective bargaining.
