For the fourth time in the past few years, a 28-year-old Darien man has been arrested on charges he was driving with a suspended driver’s license and in an unregistered vehicle.
In the last three cases, he failed to appear in court, according to police and state Judicial Branch records.
Photo from Darien P.D.
June 17 arrest photo for Dario Sheqeri
Darien police described what happened this way, including accusations not proven in court:
At 5:39 p.m., Sunday, a police officer on patrol saw a black 2009 Mercedes Benz without a front license plate being driven south on Fairfield Avenue. It was being driven south until it came closer to the patrol car, when the driver made an abrupt U-turn. The officer stopped the vehicle near the intersection of Fairfield and West avenues.
An officer on patrol traveling North on Fairfield Ave. observed a black 2009 Mercedes Benz traveling South on Fairfield Ave. The vehicle had no front marker plate and made an abrupt U-turn as it approached the officer’s vehicle, turning in the opposite direction. A motor vehicle stop was conducted.
The driver, later identified as Darieo Sheqeri of Allen O’Neil Drive, told the officer that he didn’t have any identifying paperwork or any registration or insurance documents for the vehicle.
When the officer asked him for his name, Sheqeri replied, “I don’t feel comfortable.” He then spelled out his first name.
When asked for his last name, he questioned why the officer needed it.
Eventually, he told the officer his last name was “Godolja.”
A routine check of Department of Motor Vehicles records showed there was no license with that name in Connecticut.
A check of the number on the Mercedes’ license plate showed the vehicle was registered to Darieo Sheqeri. He admitted to the officer that the vehicle was registered to him.
He also said that his family used a hyphenated last name. Later, police found identifying documents in the car, and none of them had the name “Godolja” on them.
Sheqeri’s driver’s license records showed that his license has been suspended since Aug. 3, 2016.
Other records checks showed that three arrest warrants had been issued by judges charging him with failing to appear in court.
Here’s a timeline of charges, all from Darien police, who charged him on the dates noted, or, in the case of the failure-to-appear-in-court charge, from state Superior Court in Stamford:
- Aug. 3, 2016 — Sheqeri’s driver’s license suspended
- Sept. 5, 2017 —charged with driving with a suspended license and driving an unregistered vehicle.
- Nov. 15, 2017 — charged with the same charges as on Sept. 5, along with failure to insure a motor vehicle and failure to display a front license plate.
- April 7, 2018 — charged with the same charges as on Nov.15.
- May 18, 2018 — three court-ordered warrants for his arrest issued, charging charging him with second-degree failure to appear in court on the April 7, Nov. 15, and Sept. 5 charges.
- This past Sunday, June, 17 2018 — charged with interfering with an officer, failure to insure a motor vehicle, driving with a suspended license. He was arrested on the failure to appear in court charges from May 18.
Sheqeri was arrested and held on bonds totalling $20,000 ($5,000 for the latest charges and $5,000 for each of the court warrants).
He has appeared in court but hasn’t posted any of the bonds, which have not been reduced, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website. His next court date is July 19 on all 20 charges.