New Haven Independent

He and three Westville neighbors rushed outside to find a smash-and-grab artist making his getaway.

It all began around 11 a.m. Wednesday and unfolded in two stages.

One neighbor first heard a whack and looked outside: A man threw a rock at the driver’s window of a contractor’s truck parked on Central between West Elm and Burton. The man gave up after two tries, when the rock didn’t break the window, and he drove away.

He returned moments later with a bigger rock. He threw it against the window two more times. The second attempt succeeded. The window broke, and the man dived into the truck.

The sound of that whack brought Tim Holahan (pictured above) and other neighbors outside.

“There was a big rock [pictured, presumably the original one] in the street,” Holahan said. “There was a smashed truck window. He’s wriggling out of it with some device.”

The device would turn out to be a GPS unit — a hot item for thieves these days.

“I saw the [thief] come out of the window [of the truck] and run around to his car, which was standing next to the truck,” Holahan said.

The thief sped down Central onto West Elm. Holahan made out four of the six letters of the license plate. He also got a good look at the thief.

A utility worker who happened to be at the corner gave chase; he lost the thief, but did get a solid description of his grey 2000 Ford Taurus. Holahan and the utility worker gave their info to the cops, who got right on the case.

Shortly before noon the cops brought Holahan to the Boulevard. They’d recovered the car there. Holahan ID’d it.

Then around 1:30 they called Holahan to Elm Street. They’d caught the alleged thief. Holahan ID’d him, too.

“According to the policeman I spoke with, [the suspect] has a rap sheet. He was on parole or probation” and should be heading back to jail, Holahan reported.

“I don’t feel great about it. I’m just glad” the perpetrator was caught, Holahan said.

City cop Thomas Gallagher made the arrest. The suspect, who’s 23, was charged with criminal mischief and larceny, according to mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga.

It turned out to be one of at least three reports of GPS units being stolen from cars around town Wednesday. Mayorga said the incidents do not appear to be related. One reported incident was on Olive Street. Another took place on Whalley Avenue; police said they caught a 22 year-old man in the act there.

Bianchi’s Warning

The contractor van vandalized in the Westville incident belonged to John Bianchi of North Haven. He was on Central Avenue to re-sheetrock a ceiling and unclog a drain in a home recently purchased by a young couple.

Bianchi said later on Wednesday that he hopes to get his GPS back. “I’m a map illiterate these days, since I got one of those idiot boxes,” he said.

Bianchi said that car windows have been smashed on the North Haven street where he lives, too, for the same reason: thieves grabbing GPS devices. He’d been warned not to leave his on the dashboard. He wishes he’d heeded the advice. Now he’s giving it: “I’m warning people: Take them off the dashboard.”