Shelton Man, Two Others Arrested After Theft of Copper

Three men, including Michael Davis, 27, of Canal Street in Shelton, were arrested and accused of stealing metal from a house in Darien after the new owner saw two of them running from the property into the woods, Darien police said.

Door knobs, hinges and copper piping had been stolen from the house at 47 Tulip Tree Ln., police said. One of the men arrested, Eric Whitehead, 23, of 24 Maple St. in Darien, was found in a car with a large piece of a cut copper pipe on the floor in front of his seat, according to police.

Darien police gave this account (accusations not proven in court) of the matter:

On Saturday morning, March 21, the new owner of the Tulip Tree Lane home arrived there to find a 1990 Dodge Dynasty parked in front, and he noticed metal on the rear seat. The victim pulled up alongside the parked car, where a man in one of the passenger seats said his friends were working on a demolition project. That man was later identified as Rickie Carter, 29, of Hope Street in Stamford.

The new owner called a business partner, who confirmed that no demolition work had been requested. The victim then called police at 11:32 a.m.

Shortly before a police officer arrived, the victim saw two men run from the property into the woods, and the man in the car got into the driver’s seat and drove off. The police officer soon saw the car parked on Raymond Street, just west of Tulip Tree Lane, where two men were seen getting into the car.

The car drove away from the officer as he turned his police car around, but the officer continued to look for the car and saw it again on Little Brook Road, where the officer stopped it. (Police did not indicate that a chase had taken place.)

At this point, Davis was behind the wheel. (The police officer didn’t know at what point Davis had started driving in place of Carter.) David admitted that he had tried to evade the officer. Davis said that he was in the area because Whitehead had called him for a ride.

There was a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle, and Davis admitted that he had a glass marijuana pipe on the driver’s seat and another on him.

Carter said that he and Davis had stopped nearby to pick up the third man in the car — Eric Whitehead, 23, of 24 Maple St. in Darien. Whitehead, who had the large piece of copper piping on the floor in front of where he was sitting, said he went to pick up some stuff at a house his family or relatives were selling, and he had permission to be there. When the police officer told him the house had been sold, Whitehead said he wasn’t aware of that.

Whitehead had several metal hinges in his pocket.

Darien Police canine Zulu was brought to the car and indicated that the glass pipe contained marijuana. The dog also indicated there were drugs in a backpack on the rear seat. That backpack, which had envelopes addressed to Whitehead in it, contained a small black pouch, inside of which was a clear purple snuff vial with a white residue in it. The vial is a type often used for powdered cocaine.

The victim told police that door knobs, hinges and copper pipes had been removed from the house, and it also appeared that an attempt had been made to move the stove. Police believe entry was made through an unlocked garage door.

The three men were each charged with sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth degree larceny. Whitehead and Davis were also each charged with third-degree criminal trespass and conspiracy to commit third-degree criminal trespass. The police report did not mention drug charges against any of the men, who are each scheduled to appear April 2 in state Superior Court in Stamford.

Whitehead was released on $500 bond. Bond for Davis was also set at $500, and bond for Carter was set at $250.