Community Corner

Fourth Arrest Made in June Scrap Metal Thefts

Police said a Bristol man, 50, was involved in the theft of more than $3,000 in scrap metal from a private home on Flanders Road.

Officers have arrested a fourth man in connection with the June theft of more than $3,000 worth of scrap metal from a home along Flanders Road, closing a case left open despite three arrests in late July.

Patrick Valentine, of 132 Stafford Ave. in Bristol, was taken into custody late Tuesday evening on unrelated charges in Bristol and turned over to Southington police after they learned there was a warrant for his arrest.

Valentine, 50, was booked on charges of third-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny and third-degree criminal trespassing. He was released after posting bond, according to records, and is due in Bristol Superior Court on Aug. 29.

The arrest stems from when several people entered a gated property at 593 Flanders Road, said Sgt. Lowell DePalma. The home is a private, gated residence but was hidden from the road by overgrown vegetation, according to a police report.

“Officers were called to the home on June 15 after receiving reports of a suspicious vehicle,” said DePalma. “A Dodge Caravan was left out in front of the house, parked just off the road.”

Following an investigation into the case, officers arrested three people on July 25 on various charges associated with the thefts. Cassandra D’Anna and Philip A. Plourde, both of 4 Arnold Court in Bristol, and Dwight Sturgeon, of 438 S. Main St. in Terryville, each turned themselves in after learning there was a warrant for their arrest.

D’Anna, 21, was sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny and two counts of third-degree criminal trespassing.

Plourde, 32, is facing charges of fourth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fourth-degree larceny and third-degree criminal trespassing.

Sturgeon, 45, was arraigned in Bristol Superior Court Tuesday on charges of fifth-degree larceny, sixth-degree larceny and conspiracy charges to each. State Department of Correction records indicate that he is currently being held in the Hartford Correctional Center on $150,000 in court set bonds stemming from ten active cases.

Valentine, who has several convictions for larceny and operating a motor vehicle under the influence, did not turn himself in, however, and remained “at large” until officers took him into custody in Bristol, according to police reports.

His last conviction was earlier this year in connection with a sixth-degree larceny in Plainville, but he was given an unconditional discharge in the case. Court officials could not say whether that would affect prosecution during the latest charges.


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