A call by a neighbor early Monday morning resulted in the arrest by West Hartford Police of two teens who had broken into several cars.

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford Police said that the actions of an alert resident, combined with the successful track by a K-9 team, led to the successful arrest of two teenage suspects who had just broken into at least two cars.

Capt. Michael Perruccio said that a call was received from a Steep Hollow Lane resident who noticed a neighbor’s car being entered by an unknown male at 3:13 a.m. Monday morning.

The witness told police that the man left the driveway and entered a waiting Jeep Grand Cherokee which fled the scene.

Police said there had just been a report that Farmington Police were also looking for a gray Jeep Grand Cherokee in conjunction with car burglaries.

Perruccio said that West Hartford officers set up a perimeter and the Jeep was located, speeding eastbound on Farmington Avenue. Police were able to deploy stop-sticks, which successfully disabled the vehicle.

The Jeep was located, unoccupied, on Ringgold Street, Perruccio said, and police set up a new perimeter and brought in a West Hartford Police K-9 team.

The K-9, along with officers, located the suspects hiding in the woods behind 46 Kane St., Perruccio said. Two male suspects were taken into custody without incident.

Police arrested Julian Rodriguez, 19, of Hartford, and charged him with third-degree burglary, and conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary. He was released on $5,000 non-surety bond and will appear in court on June 3.

Rodriguez also is due in court on May 14 for larceny charges stemming from an October 2019 incident, court records show.

The other suspect was a 17-year-old male and his name was not released. He received the same charges and was released to the custody of a parent, police said.

The Jeep was registered to the father of the 17-year-old, according to police.

Police believe the suspects were responsible for at least the car burglary in Farmington and on Steep Hollow in West Hartford. Nothing was taken or damaged in either of those cases, police said.

“This was a wonderful assist by a good citizen of West Hartford, and a wonderful job by our K-9 officers,” Perruccio said.

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