A resourceful homeowner who heard suspicious noises, saw a man looking into her house and a van parked in the driveway, snapped a picture of the license plate, which led to the arrest of two men — who had loot from a previous burglary in the van, police said.
Arrest photo for Marlo Aguirre, 29, of Norwalk, charged Aug. 17 in Darien with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary and possession of a weapon.
Darien police gave this account (including a 2:45 p.m. update from Norwalk Police in italics) of the incident and arrest, including accusations not proven in court:
At about 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17, a woman was home alone in her house on McCrea Lane and heard the doorbell ring several times. She also heard noise coming from the first floor. She looked out the window and saw a white van she didn’t recognize parked in the driveway.
Looking toward the back yard from a window, she saw a male looking into the rear windows of her house. After a little while, the man got in the van, and it drove off — but not before she got her picture.
Arrest photo of Siuni Bonilla, 35, of Norwalk, charged in Darien on Aug. 17 with burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
With the man and the vehicle gone, the woman went to the first floor of the house, where she found a window that had been closed was now open, and it was damaged. It was where the man had been standing.
She called 911.
Police broadcast a description of the van and license plate to surrounding towns. While police were still at the woman’s home, they were notified that Norwalk police had found the van and were holding two suspects at the scene.
Photo from Norwalk Police on Facebook
The suspect van, parked at Liberty Square in Norwalk
Update at 2:45 p.m., from Norwalk police on Facebook: Two Norwalk police officers spotted the vehicle traveling in East Norwalk and quickly stopped it in the Liberty Square shopping plaza just north of Veterans Park.
Darien police went to Norwalk and took both suspects into custody.
A search of the van turned up a large kitchen knife with a blade about 8 inches long. Police also found items in the van that they later determined came from a burglary in New canaan on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
These two men found in the van, both Norwalk residents, were each charged with second-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary: Siuni Bonilla, 35, of Ely Avenue and Marlo Aguirre, 29, of Testa Place. Aguirre was also charged with having a weapon in a motor vehicle.
Each man was held on a $15,000 bond and given a court date of Aug. 28 in state Superior Court in Stamford. Update 2:38 p.m.: Aguirre was released after posting bond at 8:30 p.m., Bonilla went to court Friday morning.
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