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A passenger found in the stolen car — which also contained a purse reported stolen from one of the other cars — was held on $25,000 bond at Police Headquarters on Monday. The car’s driver and a suspected accomplice in a second car were not apprehended, police said.
Dajuan Bostic, 19, of Ivy Street, New Haven, was charged with second-degree larceny and interfering with an officer, police said. He was also charged with first-degree failure to appear in court in an unrelated incident.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 12.
The chain of events started at 3 a.m. Monday when a Blake Drive woman awoke to what she thought was someone breaking into her home, police said. She looked outside and saw a car turn into a neighbor’s driveway and noticed her own gray Toyota Prius was gone, police said.
Police officers saw the Prius traveling on South Pine Creek Road with no lights on and activated their siren and lights, but the car drove around the cruiser, police said. The car continued onto Old Field Road, cut a curb too closely onto Ruane Drive and the driver and passenger fled on foot, police said.
Officers caught up to Bostic, but the driver eluded them, police said. A K-9 officer brought to the scene could not pick up his trail, police said.
Another car traveling behind the Prius took off in a different direction, police said.
As the morning progressed, police received multiple calls from residents reporting their cars had been rummaged through and items had been taken.
Two homeowners on Fairfield Place reported their unlocked cars had been entered overnight. One said she was missing Rapunzel and Elsa and Anna doll sets valued at $50. Another was missing a debit card and a $50 green purse, which police said was the one found in the stolen vehicle.
A third Fairfield Place resident reported his unlocked car had been rummaged through, but he didn’t report anything taken.
At 7:15 a.m. a man who had gone to a friend’s Mona Terrace home to work out at 6 a.m. told police he came outside to find his unlocked 2011 Lincoln missing.
Another Mona Terrace resident reported a Verizon Ellipsis tablet taken from her unlocked car overnight, police said.
A woman went to headquarters to say her Canon Power Shot digital camera was missing from her unlocked car, which was parked overnight on Overhill Road, police said.
At about the same time, an officer on patrol noticed a Chevy Traverse parked on Overhill appeared to have been rifled through. He identified and called the owner, who said the car was his wife’s and that his car appeared to have been rummaged through as well, but he had to get to work and hadn’t reported it, police said.
An Old Field Road man went to headquarters to report his unlocked company BMW had been entered and a brown leather Coach briefcase, a red cooler and a wallet containing VISA and Discover cards were missing, police said.
Police are investigating whether the thefts are related.
Sgt. Robert Chaisson said the incidents do reveal one thing: Residents need to take safety precautions to protect against theft.
“Don’t leave your car unlocked with presents, gifts, your purse there,” he said.
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