Two Vernon businesses are out thousands of dollars after thieves concocted a plan to steal motor vehicles with credit cards.

The scheme started on August 27, when, according to the Vernon Police Department, Marquis Daniels and Quenisha Smith executed their plan to steal a go-kart and dirtbike from Scooter Pros by creating their own fake credit card.

Police said the pair called the Vernon business and paid for the dirtbike and go-kart over the phone.

It’s a transaction that cost the local business $10,000.

Kyle Jay is the owner of Scooter Pros, one of the recent business owners targeted in the fake credit card scandal.

“We work every day and realize that there people out there that are doing that to business like us,” said Jay. “It could take months for us to recoup.”

Just a week later, Barron Dandridge performed a similar act at Scranton Power Sports, according to police.

Phil Wilson is Scranton’s Power Sports’ owner and is looking to bounce back from the $4,000 loss.

“I have all of my employees here and they work hard for their paychecks,” said Wilson. “It’s frustrating when someone tries to scam me and are looking to scam someone else for the credit card,”

Police said all of the data used in the cases are compromised through data breaches and stored on the dark web.

“These transactions are going through and it's being accepted,” said Lt. William Meier of the Vernon Police Department. "Business owners are getting a fraudulent card back 10-12 days later by the credit card company.”

Jay is warning other business owners to look out for suspicious activity.

“You should be on alert when someone looks to come at closing time and rush the process,” said Jay. “I would also advise you to have any customer out of state come in to your business and manually use their card and double check their credit card and ID.”

Police said there are a few steps to ensure your personal information is secure.

“I would advise everyone to double check their statement for any fraudulent activity,” Meier said. “A few companies offer push alerts to warn you of any suspicious activity.”

Wilson is taking preventative measures to avoid any other incidents.

“We only allow a certain limit that we run on credit cards and our employees have to get written approval from myself or another manager,” he said.

Police said you can also sign up for two-factor authorization on your phone, as an extra security step to better protect all of your personal information.

After Hurricane Maria two years ago, thousands of Puerto Rican families moved to Connecticut. But, what is the process like for Bahamians who were affected by Hurricane Dorian?

“It’s our intention to provide any humanitarian support that we can,” said New Haven’s Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana, at a news conference addressing the issue on Monday.

Fontana, Mayor Toni Harp and other city leaders expressed they want to be prepared to welcome Bahamian hurricane victims with open arms.

“They can apply for a visitor visa, which would allow them to come in for a certain amount of time. They can also apply for something known as humanitarian parole,” Immigration Attorney Glenn Formica explained to NBC Connecticut.

Formica said there aren’t currently any quick options for families seeking to leave the islands and start anew here.

Visitor visas, humanitarian parole and even a green card application by a relative could take years to process.

“The easiest thing would be for the president to do an executive order and say TPS—temporary protected status—for people from the Bahamas,” said Formica.

TPS has been granted after natural disasters in the past, following Hurricane Mitch in the late 90s that hit Central America, and the devastating earthquake in Haiti back in 2010.

“It’s the best part of our immigration policy because it’s quick, it’s instant,” Formica explained.

According to Chris George, president of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven, those in need will go to places where they have friends and family.

“We’d like for them to get a warm welcome. Right into an apartment as soon as they arrive,” George said.

In the meantime, Connecticut residents want to pitch in.

“I really hope all of us come together and try and help out the Bahamas,” said Jailin Badiloo from Meriden.

Hartford Fire Chief Reginald Freeman is part of the Caribbean Association of Fire Chiefs. He’s been a liaison with efforts in the Bahamas and says firefighters and law enforcement here in Connecticut have offered to go down to the Bahamas themselves to help.

“If there’s a determination of an additional need absolutely, we would of course assess the skillset, the training and experience, who would like to go, particularly the urban search and rescue experience and they would be deployed through SDEMA,” said Freeman.

President Donald Trump on Monday downplayed the idea of allowing Bahamians fleeing the destruction of Hurricane Dorian into the United States on humanitarian grounds, hours after his acting Customs and Border Protection chief said it was worth considering, NBC News reported.

"We have to be very careful. Everybody needs totally proper documentation because the Bahamas had some tremendous problems with people going to the Bahamas that weren't supposed to be there," Trump said on the White House South Lawn.

Earlier Monday, acting Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan said  that while there has not been any formal grant of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Bahamians affected by Dorian, it was not something he had ruled out.

A man who police say had an "intense dislike" for the New England Patriots is facing charges that he threatened a shooting at Gillette Stadium.

Tobias Gray, 44, of East Providence, was arrested Sunday afternoon, the day of the Patriots' season opener, after he made threats against Gillette Stadium in a social media post a day earlier, East Providence police said.

Gray allegedly posted a message on Facebook voicing his displeasure with the Antonio Brown signing, and Foxborough police perceived the post as a threat to Gillette Stadium.

"You might as well just hand them the ring right now," the post read. "If I ever get my hands on a gun which I don't have one yet but I'm looking I will go shoot up random people at Foxboro. (Expletive) the Patriots."

Foxborough police said they received a report about the "troubling" social media post by a party out of Rhode Island at 8:44 p.m. on Saturday. Gray was arrested in Rhode Island around 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Police said Gray was arrested on a previous, unrelated domestic violence charge and was also charged with threats to a public official for making expletive-laden threats to police as they attempted to arrest him on Sunday. He is wanted as a fugitive from justice out of Foxborough, Massachusetts, on charges of threatening to commit a crime and uttering a terroristic threat.

He waived extradition to Massachusetts during an appearance in Providence District Court on Monday. He wore a New York Giants jersey for his appearance. He is expected to appear for arraignment in Massachusetts in the next day or two.

Massachusetts State Police said they were made aware Sunday by Foxborough Police of "a threat of violence (shooting)" that Gray had made regarding Gillette Stadium.

"The threat was apparently prompted by an intense dislike of the New England Patriots," state police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement.

Foxborough police are leading the investigation into the threat, and state police said they believe Foxborough police have obtained a warrant charging Gray with the threat.

Foxborough police issued a statement Monday saying they are withholding comment at this time "on any specific action our agency may have taken, or may take in the future, in response to the ongoing challenge of malevolent or criminal social media posts."

The statement added that the department will respond "vigorously" to take appropriate action as the law allows.

Gray's lawyer told WJAR that his client is just a frustrated fan and meant no harm.

"He just said it was almost– it was just a reaction. And he put something up there as any other fan might. He immediately took it down. I didn't see the post myself, so I can't comment on what it said," attorney Stefanie DiMaio Larivee said.

A local health department has issued a warning after people were attacked by a fox in East Lyme on Monday morning.

Two people were outside a home on Heritage Road when the attack happened around 10:15 a.m., according to police.

One of the victims was taken to the hospital to be treated, police said.

The fox was not captured, so it can't be tested for rabies.

Anyone who sees a fox in the area of Heritage Road is urged to stay away from it and to call police at 860-442-9451.

The city of New Haven has a new police chief.

On Monday Otoniel Reyes, who was serving the New Haven Police Department as interim police chief, was formally sworn in as the permanent chief of police.

He was the assistant chief and has been leading the department since March, when the former chief, Anthony Campbell, retired.  

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said in July that Reyes was her choice to become the new police chief.  

Reyes, who grew up in New Haven, has been with the department for 19 years. 

Connecticut teachers give so much of their time and their energy to their students, but hundreds of local educators told NBC Connecticut Investigates that they are giving a lot of their own money, too. How much is too much?

"We just do it. It's a labor of love and we just do it," said Rose Diehl-Ortiz, a second grade teacher Stafford Elementary School in Bristol. So far this school year, she said she’s spent about $250. She said that the amount would at least double in the months ahead.

"I looked at the amount and I was like 'wow, Rose, that's a lot'," said Diehl-Ortiz.

"You have some students that come from some pretty disadvantaged families," said Maureen Hilsdon, who teaches first, second and third grades at Montessori Magnet at Batchelder in Hartford. She expected to spend at least $500 for supplies for her students.

"You're not going to wait until you hopefully will get some money from the district," Hilsdon said. "You're just going to go and get it."

Hilsdon said she does receive some money, which varies year to year, to buy additional supplies not provided by the district. But a lot of Connecticut teachers said they get no financial help. Often there is a gap between the number of dollars and the number of supplies needed.

"I have filled the gap using my own money," said Susan Fabrizio, a fifth grade teacher at Louis Toffolon Elementary School in Plainville. She said she expects to be spending up to a $1,000 on her 19 students this year. "Pencil boxes, pencils, post-it notes, pens, markers, crayons for every student that walks into this room."

Teachers said that they are also buying non-traditional items such as food, clothing and toiletries for kids.

Hundreds of teachers completed the NBC Connecticut Investigates CT Teacher Survey 2019 on classroom spending, which asked teachers what they are buying and how much of their own money they are spending. Only one percent of teachers anticipated spending less than $100 this year. Twelve percent expected to shell out $100 to $300, while 31 percent thought they would spend between $300 and $500.

Thirty eight percent of respondents, meanwhile, expect to spend between $300 and $500. Eighteen percent of Connecticut teachers who completed the survey said they will spend over $1,000 of their own money on supplies for their classroom this school year.

"It is inspiring," said Kristin Irvine, principal at Stafford Elementary School in Bristol. Irvine said she sees not just the generosity of her teachers; but their creativity, too. She said teachers often share materials and they're always on the hunt for a good deal. "Anywhere where they've got freebies, they're grabbing them," said Irvine. "They're grabbing things at conferences, things they know the kids will love."

The alternative is that students would just go without.

"It's something that is concerning for us," said Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association (CEA), which helped distribute the survey along with AFT Connecticut. Leake said the teachers' voluntary spending is a by-product of school budgets that are not sufficient.

"We are trying to do the best we can in the state of Connecticut in terms of funding schools - it's not there," said Leake.

In the meantime, the financial gap will likely be filled by teachers who are already so invested in Connecticut kids.

"Would I rather spend the money on something else? Absolutely, but I don't mind," said Diehl-Ortiz. "I want them to be successful."

Tune in Tuesday at 11 p.m. for The Cost of Teaching Part 2: Teacher Pay and Additional Jobs.

Fool her once, shame on you. Fool her twice, maybe take her car keys away.

A Connecticut woman was arrested Saturday afternoon for driving while drunk — and followed it up by getting arrested for another DUI just a few hours later.

Wilton police received a call around 2:30 p.m. about a woman driving a 2012 Lexus sedan who had struck a parked vehicle at a parking lot along River Road, and the caller believed the driver to be intoxicated. When police arrived, they could smell alcohol as they interacted with the driver, identified as Ellen Needleman-O’Neill.

Police arrested her after conducting field sobriety test on Needleman-O’Neill, which she failed. A later test revealed she had a blood alcohol level of .23 — nearly triple the legal limit.

She was charged with DUI and possession of a controlled substance after police discovered a pain killer pill inside her purse, and released.

Nearly six hours after her initial arrest, the 64-year-old was spotted walking into — what else — a liquor store. After leaving the store, Needleman-O’Neill drove away after 8 p.m. in her black Lexus, which was later discovered by police stopped on Old Farms Road, where she lives.

Needleman-O’Neill was found to not have a valid driver’s license and her car was not registered. Police once again brought her to the stationhouse, where she agreed to take a breath test. Her blood alcohol level at that time was .09, still above the legal limit to operate a vehicle, and was once again charged with DUI and released.

She is scheduled to appear in court on September 17, which she hopefully does not attempt to drive to.

A burglary suspect is in custody after a West Hartford resident confronted the man as he burglarized a home Monday, according to West Hartford police.

Police said officers first responded when they received a 911 call from a 12-year-old, who reported that someone was in his North Quaker Lane home rummaging through cabinets and drawers. As officers arrived police received a second report that a neighbor on nearby Auburn Road had confronted a man who was burglarizing a home on Auburn Road. The resident pinned the suspect to the ground as he tried to escape and police took him into custody.

The suspect was identified as 36-year-old Andrew Harris. He was charged with burglary, risk of injury and larceny.

Police said they believe Harris was under the influence of narcotics at the time.

The resident who pinned the suspect scraped a knee. No other injuries were reported.

Police recovered a backpack that was stolen from the first home. They do not believe anything else was taken.

Harris was held on bond.

On this final day before the primary, Eddie Perez walked door-to-door making one last pitch about why he deserves another chance as Hartford mayor.

“I think the number one issue when I’m door knocking is the condition of the street. Everybody complains about the pot holes,” said Perez.

The former Hartford mayor believes the three-way Democratic primary will be tight.

“The important thing for people to remember is I’m a neighborhood guy and I’m from Hartford and people understand that’s what we need,” says Perez.

At Brandon McGee campaign headquarters, they were checking plans for Tuesday after a day filled with touching base with voters.

“On my call sheets there are some folks who wanted me to give them a call. I decided to show up to their house and meet with them,” said McGee.

The state representative is hopeful for a high turnout at the polls this time.

“Many folks who I’ve been able to meet throughout the city are saying, ‘Brandon, thank you so much for running. You’re giving us more hope, more opportunities,’” said McGee.

As for current Mayor Luke Bronin, his day was mixed with campaign work as well as official duties, such as raising the Pride flag outside City Hall.

“I hope everyone understands, you know, what’s at stake for our city,” said Bronin.

He hopes everyone turns out to vote no matter who they’re going to support.

“We’ve been working hard for many months to talk about all the work we’ve done to get the city of Hartford from a place of crisis to where we’re moving forward step by step. And talk about all the work we have left to do,” said Bronin.

Whoever wins on Tuesday will move on to the general election.

One Democrat is skipping the primary – J. Stan McCauley – because he’s been cross-endorsed by the Republicans.

See a full list of Tuesday's races here.

A former senior Russian official is living in the Washington area under U.S. government protection, current and former government officials tell NBC News. NBC News is withholding the man’s name and other key details at the request of U.S. officials, who say reporting the information could endanger his life. 

An NBC News correspondent went to the man’s house in the Washington area and rang the doorbell. Five minutes later, two young men in an SUV came racing up the street and parked immediately adjacent to the correspondent’s car. The men, who identified themselves only as friends of the Russian, asked the correspondent what he was doing there.

A former senior national security official said the men were likely U.S. government agents monitoring the Russian's house.

The discovery of the Russian’s presence in the U.S. came after a CNN report Monday asserting that the CIA exfiltrated one of its top spies from Russia after officials became concerned he was in danger of being caught. The New York Times reported later Monday that the CIA’s Russian informant was instrumental to the agency’s conclusion that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered and orchestrated the campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Tuesday is Primary Day in Connecticut.

Several cities and towns across the state are holding primaries, including 15 municipalities holding primaries in mayoral or first selectman races.

Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport all have a mayor's race this year. But Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said even in a contested primary race, she only expects a 20-30 percent voter turnout.

In the August 2018 Democratic primary statewide turnout was 

28.59 percent. In Hartford turnout was 19.63 percent and in New Haven, 26.88 percent.

In the same year's Republican Primary, statewide turnout was 31.8 percent, with 17.12 percent turnout in Hartford and 24.73 percent turnout in New Haven.

Check out the tables below to check if your town is holding a primary and see the candidates running.

Two men are injured after a shooting and a stabbing in Hartford early Tuesday morning, according to authorities.

Police said they are investigating the shooting and stabbing in the 430 block of Zion Street.

One man reported being shot on Zion Street then a second man arrived at Hartford Hospital with a puncture wound to his wrist, authorities said. Both have non-life threatening injuries.

Officers are working to determine if the two incidents are related.

A stunning confrontation at a San Francisco Bay Area fast food drive-thru was captured on cellphone video. A Jack in the Box worker in Campbell refused to serve a deaf woman and even mocked her sign language.

The video went viral Monday, and the woman at the center of it, 39-year-old Revae Arnaud-Jensen, says she's pursuing legal action.

At the busy Jack in the Box on West Hamilton Avenue, customers generally order through a speaker first, then drive up to the window. But that didn’t work for Arnaud-Jensen, who has been deaf since birth. Still, she expected to get food, not grief.

"I was shocked and perplexed," said Arnaud-Jensen, who is articulate and can communicate through lip reading and sign language.

She couldn’t, however, get that across to a Jack in the Box worker.

"I’m deaf," she told the worker.

"It’s OK. It’s OK. Go to speaker now," was the worker's response.

With the help of her son on Monday, Arnaud-Jensen talked about the verbal confrontation. She said it all started when she tried to explain why she didn’t use the speaker and tried to order at the drive-thru window.

As things escalated, her son recorded the confrontation with his phone. In the video, the worker can be heard telling Arnaud-Jensen "no order." Then the worker mocks her sign language, and there's laughter.

"It just continues. It needs to stop," Arnaud-Jensen said. "It’s discrimination. Too many times. They think it’s the norm, but it’s not.”

After Jack in the Box management saw the video posted on her Arnaud-Jensen's Facebook page, the worker was fired. But Arnaud-Jensen still plans to sue.

"It’s not only training. That’s not going to change," she said. "Because you need that depth of knowledge of deaf culture to fully understand the needs."

Jack in the Box corporate released the following statement Monday:

"We have been informed of the incident that took place between an employee and hearing-impaired guest, in the drive-thru at a Campbell, CA restaurant on August 31st. We do not tolerate the mistreatment of any customers and expect employees to follow all training procedures, be respectful, courteous and accommodating to all guests. After a thorough investigation of the incident and direct contact with the local franchise owner, we understand the employee in the video has been terminated."

East Lyme police are investigating after a crash involving two stolen vehicles early Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to reports of a vehicle versus tree crash on Dean Road around 3:45 a.m. The report said there were people who ran from the scene.

When police arrived, they learned two vehicles had been involved in the crash and no drivers or occupants remained at the scene.

Once officers checked both vehicles, they said they learned both had been stolen from two different shoreline communities.

Connecticut State Police assisted in searching for the people involved by conducting a k9 track, however, nobody was found, police said.

The East Lyme Police Department is continuing to have visible patrols in the area.

The investigation into the crash continues.

If you have any information or witnessed the crash, you're asked to contact East Lyme Police at (860) 739-5900.

Part of New Britain Avenue in Rocky Hill is closed because of a crash.

Police said New Britain Avenue is closed in both directions between Catherine Drive and Cobey Road as they investigate.

Drivers are urged to seek alternate an alternate route.

Scattered sprinkles and patches of fog on Tuesday morning will clear out and make way for mainly cloudy skies later in the day.

There will be no weather concerns as residents head out to the polls. Temperatures will climb into the mid 70s.

Several cities and towns across the state are holding primaries on Tuesday, including 15 municipalities holding primaries in mayoral or first selectman races.

Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

It’s primary day in Connecticut and voters in several towns are casting votes for mayor. 

While the secretary of the state expects that will increase the number of people heading to the polls, she is still doesn’t expect high voter turnout. 

On Tuesday morning, there were a few complaints about machines malfunctioning, but Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said that hasn’t stopped anyone from voting. 

“If you don’t vote you end up with what we have right now,” Steve Itkin, of New Haven, said. 

New Haven is one of several cities and towns where there is a mayoral race. 

“It’s not just a primary, it’s an important primary. We’re picking the leader of our city.” Harriett Welfare, of New Haven, said. 

There are also mayoral races in Bridgeport, East Haven, Hamden, Hartford, Middletown and West Haven. 

Merrill said turnout has always been low for primaries and she doesn’t think the contested mayoral races will bring out the crowds. 

Voters who did head to the polls Tuesday morning said they want to see positive things in their communities. 

“Better schools, better roads, more participation by the population and just working together to make it a better city,” Itkin said. 

“I’d like to see all the programs for our youth and our seniors to continue,” Welfare said. 

Other people said they are trying to motivate others to vote. 

“People have to realize how lucky they are to have the ability to make those choices,” Ed Russo, of Hartford, said. “If you don’t vote, I personally feel you should be quiet about complaining because if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem.”

The polls are open until 8 p.m. and voters in line by 8 p.m. will be able to vote. 

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Mom! Dad! Wow! Tell a ballet -- It's the last palindrome week of the century. 

Palindromes are words, phrases or a sequence of numbers that can be read the same way forward and backward. 

Tuesday (9/10/19 or 9/10/2019) marks the first time this year, and last time for a lifetime, when all the numbers line up. The palindromes go through next Thursday, so palindrome week is actually a 10-day week. 

Here's how it looks:

9/10/19
9/11/19
9/12/19
9/13/19
9/14/19
9/15/19
9/16/19
9/17/19
9/18/19
9/19/19 

It's also the last palindrome week we'll get for the century, Farmers' Almanac notes. Using the m-dd-yy format, each century gets nine years with 10 consecutive palindrome days and they always happen in the second decade of that 100-year span.  

But don't despair. There are still some numerical palindrome days ahead on the calendar. NBC News reported back in 2011 about a professor at University of Portland, Aziz Inan, who has studied numerical palindromes. He compiled a list here of 38 palindrome dates for the 21st Century (in a month/day/year format that uses four numbers for the year). The next one up is Feb. 2, 2020 (02/02/2020).

The word palindrome comes from the Greek palindromos and signifies a running back again, according to Etymonline.com. The ancient Greeks famously inscribed a palindrome phrase on fountains.

Go ahead and inscribe some tweets today. Here's a good list of palindromes for inspiration.

The so-called full "Harvest Moon" will emerge in the night sky this weekend. But don't be spooked by its appearance, it will be much smaller than usual. 

The harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. This year, the moon will turn full just after midnight on Saturday, Sept. 14 for those living in the Eastern Time zone. But for people in the Central, Mountain, or Pacific time zones, this particular Harvest Moon will fall on Friday the 13th. 

While a split time-zone full moon is atypical — last occurring in 2014 — a full moon on Friday the 13th nationwide is very rare. The last time the U.S. had a Friday the 13th full moon was on Oct. 13, 2000 and the next one won't happen again until 2049, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

What's more, this year's full moon will be smaller than usual because it coincides with apogee — the point in its orbit farthest away from the Earth. This "Micromoon" is the opposite of last year's "Supermoon" when the full moon occurred during perigee, it's closest point to Earth. 

For several days after the initial appearance of the harvest moon, the moonrise will come soon after sunset. Traditionally, the additional light early in the evening gives farmers more time to reap their summer-grown crop, hence the name "harvest" moon, according the Farmer's Alamanac.