You read this story here first — before it ends up in News of the Weird’s “Least Competent Criminals.”
Let New Haven police spokesman Officer David Hartman tell you this story:
“On September 13, 2014, Police were dispatched to the parking lot at 112 Amity Road to investigate a car-jacking. There, they met a 23-year-old woman who lives in Stamford. She said she’d stopped for groceries at Stop & Shop. At about 4:20 p.m., she left the supermarket and headed to her parked 2008 Honda CRV. It began raining heavily, so she rushed to get her groceries into the car. As she leaned inside, a man approached her from behind. She reported he told her to get away from the car. He repeated this several times and said he had a gun. The victim said the man lifted his sweatshirt revealing something tucked into his waistband. She couldn’t identify it but believed it was a gun.
“She told police the presumably armed man crawled into the car through the passenger door and over to the driver’s seat. He then drove off. The car was adorned with a colorful Autism Awareness sticker. The victim wasn’t assaulted.
“Officers interviewed several people, including a store employee who said he rode the bus to work. He said the suspect got on the bus at Whalley and Sherman Avenues. He said, once they’d reached their stop, the man asked him for a cigarette lighter.
“Officers, with the help of Stop & Shop loss prevention officers, were able to obtain surveillance of the suspect getting off the bus. Detectives tracked down the bus and obtained surveillance taken on board. Video footage revealed the suspect had initially confronted a man by his parked SUV. He appears to abandon whatever he was planning when he sees the victim rush by. He follows her and eventually steals her car.
“Several witnesses said they’d be able to identify the robber should they see him again. … Detectives took the surveillance evidence and released the suspect’s image within the law enforcement community. Upon seeing the wanted man’s photo, three probation officers phoned detectives and each identified him …
“As an arrest warrant was prepared, a plan was conjured up to bring Harding in for a meeting with his probation officer. It worked. On Monday morning, Sept. 23, [the 26-year-old alleged carjacker] arrived at the Adult Probation Office on State Street in New Haven. He was promptly arrested and charged with first-degree robbery and second-degree larceny.
“I wish the New Haven Police Department could boast about the recovery of the victims Honda CRV, but we must give credit where it is due. The car was delivered to us at the probation Office — by [the alleged carjacker]. He’d driven it to the meeting.
“During the days the car was missing, it became the suspected get-away vehicle in a Wallingford bank robbery. That case is being investigated independently by” Wallingford police.
