New Haven police said they captured a suspect in a car break-in just by dialing a phone number and that was enough to catch him red handed.
Police responded to South Orange Street and Columbus Avenue at 10:44 a.m. on Tuesday to investigate a burglary from a car.
The complainant told police that she was walking toward her car and noticed two men who appeared to be a bit too close to her vehicle. She saw one man open the door, reach inside and run to the Church Street South public housing complex, police said.
Once the woman got into her car, she realized she'd forgotten to lock her doors and that two cell phones that had been in her center console were missing.
She provided police with a description of the men who she had spotted at her car and police went to search for them.
Minutes later, officers saw a man matching the woman's description.
Police played it cool to prevent the man from running off, according to police, and one officer grabbed his phone, dialed the victim’s phone number and heard ringing from the man’s pocket.
Police said Alexis Rivera, 31, of New Haven, had both of the stolen phones on him and one showed the officer's number on the caller ID.
The victim identified Rivera as the person she'd seen reaching into her car.
He was arrested and charged with burglary in the third degree and larceny in the sixth degree.
Photo Credit: New Haven Police