A West Hartford liquor store was burglarized early Wednesday morning, and a suspect also broke into several stores in a shopping plaza.

By Ronni Newton

West Hartford Police are investigating two incidents that took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and have released surveillance photos from both incidents.

The first burglary occurred at 1:19 a.m. Police said they responded to burglar alarm at 612 South Quaker Ln. (Wise Old Dog), and discovered that the front door had been smashed to gain entry to the premises.

Surveillance footage showed a black male with facial hair, wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, kicking out a window in the front door and entering the store.

Police said that the suspect grabbed a “large amount of liquor bottles” and concealed them in a duffel bag before exiting the store and heading southwest.

A K-9 team from Manchester responded but was unable to locate the suspect.

Police said the suspect is believed to be the same man involved with a burglary on Aug. 11, 2018, also at the Wise Old Dog. In that incident, police responded to an alarm at 4:51 a.m., and found that the front door had been smashed open by an unknown object, and bottles of liquor were strewn on the ground.

Police said they established a perimeter, and employed a State Police K-9 team for a track, but the results were negative.

Surveillance video of the Aug. 11 incident showed a suspect gaining entrance to the building, and stealing an undetermined amount of liquor, police said. Police described the suspect as a thin black male with a beard. He was wearing a light-colored jacket or zipper sweatshirt with dark sleeves, light-colored pants, and a light-colored hat. The suspect fled southwest on South Quaker Lane while carrying a case of bottled liquor, police said.

Based on analysis of the surveillance images, police said, it appears the same suspect was involved in both burglaries of the West Hartford liquor store.

On Aug. 29, not quite two hours after the burglary call at Wise Old Dog, at 3:05 a.m., police responded to another burglar alarm, this one at 1037 Boulevard, at the intersection with Prospect Avenue.

Police said that when they arrived at the scene, the front door had been smashed to gain access to the interior of the where a Subway, Sam’s Food Store, and Dunkin’ Donuts are located.

A K-9 team from Manchester also responded to this incident, but did not locate a suspect.

Police said the suspect in the 1037 Boulevard incident is a thin black male who was wearing a green shirt.

Police did not disclose what, if anything, was stolen in the second incident.

Police did not say whether or not they believed the same man is the suspect in both of these incidents.

Anyone with information about either of these incidents is asked to contact police at 860-523-5203.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford!