Darien police say a man charged with thefts in Westport stole a bicycle on Dew Lane in Darien — and left it across the street.
Police gave this account of the incident and investigation, including accusations not proven in court:
At 2:21 a.m. on July 3, the mobile phone of Jose Velazquez, 58, of Bridgeport, indicated it was in the area of Dew Lane in Darien.
Darien police got that information from Westport police as they investigated the theft of a bicycle from a garage. The garage door had been found ajar at about 9:30 a.m. Soon afterward, the bike was found in grass across the street. The theft was reported at 1:56 p.m. that day.
Darien police became aware of several reports of other bicycle thefts at about the same time in the area of South Avenue in New Canaan, a road that leads from Darien to downtown New Canaan. Dew Lane is just off of the same road, which becomes Mansfield Avenue in Darien. Velazquez has not been charged in connection with any of those thefts.
Arrest photo from Darien P.D.
Jose Velazquez, 58, charged with burglary and larceny in connection with the theft of a bicycle in July 2020.
“In conjunction with other jurisdictions experiencing bicycle thefts, a suspect, identified as Jose Velazquez, was developed,” Darien police said. Velazquez had been arrested in Westport “for similar crimes,” the police announcement said.
Police applied for and received an arrest warrant for Velazquez, a resident of Arctic Street in Bridgeport. After he was informed of the warrant on Oct. 8, he turned himself in two days later at Darien Police Headquarters.
Velazquez was charged with third-degree burglary (a felony) and sixth-degree larceny. He posted a court-set bond of $50,000 and was released, pending an appearance Dec. 10 in state Superior Court in Stamford. That’s the same date he’s due in Superior Court in Norwalk in one of his Westport burglary cases.
According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, Jose C. Velazquez has court cases for these two arrests, both by Westport police:
—July 20 — charges: third-degree burglary (a felony), possession of burglar tools, fifth-degree larceny; he posted $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Dec. 10 in state Superior Court in Norwalk.
—Sept. 9 — charges: third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny (both felonies); he posted a $7,500 bond and is due in court in Norwalk on Dec. 11.
According to the same website, a “Jose Colon Velazquez,” born the same year as the man arrested in Darien, was arrested by Hartford police and later convicted of third-degree burglary on May 24, 2011. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.