It was one thing after another for police and workers at different gas station convenience stores in town last week as they reacted to various actions of a 43-year-old man, according to police reports.
The Bridgeport man, according to the reports:
(b) argued with a clerk at one gas station convenience store when he couldn’t pay for a drink, and then started panhandling outside of it [Incident No. 1];
(a) stole (apparently just coins) from an SUV parked at the Noroton Heights Train Station [Incident No. 2];
(c) ran off with a pack of cigarettes from another gas station convenience store [Incident No. 3].
All in one day. In fact, all by about 2 p.m. that day.
Darien police gave these accounts (all containing accusations not proven in court), in various police reports of the string of events, as they unfolded for police:
Incident No. 1
At about 12:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 6, police were called to the Shell gas station at 164 Noroton Ave. The man police later identified as Paul Kish had wanted to buy a drink in the station’s convenience store, but didn’t have enough money to pay for it.
He then lingered outside the store and asked customers at the station for money. A worker told him to leave.
Police were called and confronted Kish on Noroton Avenue near its intersection with Hecker Avenue. He told police he was trying to get back to Bridgeport after getting on the wrong train earlier that day.
As police spoke with him, he looked nervous and was repeatedly told to keep his hands out of his pockets. That made police suspicious, so they patted him down to make sure he didn’t have a weapon on him.
They found an unusual amount of change in his pockets. That made officers suspect that he may have stolen it from one of the vehicles parked at the nearby Noroton Heights Train Station. So they checked the parking lot.
Incident No. 2 (First Part)
There they found a gray Jeep with the driver’s-side door ajar but nobody around. But there was no evidence that Kish had opened up the door or taken anything from inside, so police let him go. In fact, they gave him a ride to the Darien Train Station with the understanding that he’d be boarding a train for Bridgeport.
[Editor’s note: We don’t know what arrangement Kish had or didn’t have to pay for the fare. The fare for that trip is $4.25 (whether or not you’ve already bought a two-way ticket), and conductors often don’t even ask for your ticket during that short trip. If you don’t have the fare, you may be let off at your destination anyway.]
Incident No. 3
At about 1 p.m., police were called about an incident at Darien Auto Specialists, the Gulf gas station and repair shop at 1044 Post Road, on a report that a man had taken a pack of cigarettes without paying for it.
Officers going to the scene were waived down by the store owner, who was near Darien Sports Shop. He was pursuing a man he accused of taking the cigarettes. He told police he wanted to have the man arrested.
The suspect, a white male wearing a black shirt and gray jeans — Kish — had discarded the cigarettes near the store then run behind it and across Leroy Avenue and onto nearby Hale Lane, a private road behind Whole Foods Market.
From there, police saw Kish flee into the woods behind BMW of Darien, where officers, from a distance, saw him enter a parking lot. Other police entered that parking lot and took Kish into custody.
The gas station owner told police that just before 1 p.m., the man had entered and asked for a pack of Newport cigarettes. The cashier had put the cigarettes on the counter and turned away for a moment. The owner, who was present, then heard the cashier yelling and was told the man had just left without paying for the cigarettes.
The owner confronted the man while he was still at the gas station and told him he would call police and have him arrested if he didn’t return the cigarettes. The stranger told the owner that he wanted to be arrested, and then he left, with the owner following him.
Back to Incident No. 2 (We Never Promised This Wasn’t Complicated)
When police arrested Kish, they did a more thorough search of him than before — and found a key to a Jeep. They soon found it belonged to the Jeep they had looked at in the train station parking lot less than an hour before.
They contacted the owner, who said she had left the vehicle unlocked and had left a key inside it.
Conclusion
Kish was charged with interfering with an officer, third-degree burglary (from a motor vehicle) and two counts of sixth-degree larceny.
Kish’s bond was set at $25,000. He did not post it, and later appeared in state Superior Court in Stamford, where his bond was reduced to $20,000. He is next scheduled to appear Thursday in the same court.
According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, Kish’s previous convictions include:
- Possession of less than four ounces of marijuana on New Year’s Eve, 2006. Arrested by Bridgeport police. He was given one year probation on April 4, 2007, and probation was terminated on Sept. 9, 2008.
- Second-degree larceny, on Nov. 21, 2008. Arrested by Bridgeport police. Sentenced to three years in jail, execution of sentence suspended on Jan. 16, 2009.
- Felony possession of more than four ounces of marijuana or an hallucinogen on Feb. 19, 2009. Arrested by Westport police. Given an unconditional discharge on Aug. 17, 2009.
- Possession of less than four ounces of marijuana on Oct. 10, 2009. Arrested by Norwalk police. Fined $750 on May 10, 2010.
- Third-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, on Jan. 18, 2012. Arrested by Bridgeport police. He pleaded guilty and was given an unconditional release on Feb. 17, 2012.
- Second-degree breach of peace, a misdemeanor, on April 14, 2012. Arrested by Bridgeport police. Sentenced to six months in jail, execution of sentence suspended, all on Sept. 7, 2012.