A 28-year-old New Jersey man has been arrested by Darien police on an accusation that he stole two personal checks from a Darien man who had mailed them a year ago to pay taxes.
Accusations in the police account, including these further details, have not been proven in court:
The victim said he mailed two personal checks to pay his taxes on Jan. 16, 2023, but on May 19 of that year, the IRS told him the payment was missing.
Arrest photo from Darien P.D.
David Velazquez, 28, of Warren, New Jersey, was arrested on charges of larceny, forgery and identity theft.
The victim checked with his bank and found that both checks had cleared, but that they had been made out to “Love Flow Logistics,” and had been endorsed by someone named David Velazquez. The amounts on the checks and the victim’s signature were unchanged.
A Darien police detective, using a search warrant for bank records, found there were two owners of an account where the checks were deposited. David Velazquez, was one of them.
The detective applied for another search warrant, which was granted, for an internet address which led to the address of Velazquez’ home in Warren, New Jersey. The detective spoke with Velazquez, who said the checks were received as payment to his company, and he could provide documentation for that. He didn’t.
On Sept. 7, 2023, Darien police issued an arrest warrant charging Velazquez with first-degree identity theft, first-degree larceny and third-degree forgery. On Feb. 19, this year, Velazquez was under arrest in Morris County Correctional Center. Darien police went there, arrested him on the Connecticut charges and brought him to Darien Police Headquarters.
He initially was held on a $100,000 court-set bond, but when he appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford, the bond was lowered to $25,000 and he was released after paying 7% of it ($1,750), according to the state Judicial Branch website. He is next scheduled to appear in court on April 14.