Borough man charged with battery thefts

0
260

Christopher Bioski
Christopher Bioski

PROSPECT — A Naugatuck man has been charged with stealing 16 batteries from five commercial vehicles parked off Industrial Drive last June.

The Prospect Resident Trooper’s Office arrested Christopher Bioski, 22, of Prospect Street, on a warrant on Jan. 9, charging him with larceny in the fourth degree and five counts of tampering with a motor vehicle.

Bioski is scheduled to appear on Jan. 23 at Waterbury Superior Court. He remains free on a $1,000 bond.

Police in Wolcott and Naugatuck have charged Bioski in similar thefts in their communities. The police agencies shared information to solve the cases, Resident Trooper Matthew Comeau said.

“It was a nice combined effort between all of us, between Wolcott, Naugatuck and Prospect,” Comeau said. “We wound up wrapping up a whole bunch of cases.”

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, about 11:40 p.m. on June 2, Bioski removed the batteries from five vehicles parked at 16 Industrial Drive. The total value was about $1,920.

Robert Johnson on June 3 reported to police that four batteries were taken from his company’s SRM Transport LLC, a 1999 Freight Liner, the warrant states. He told police other vehicles belonging to two other business had their batteries taken, too.

Anthony Delucia, owner of Joe’s Refuse Removal, reported that eight batteries were taken from three of his garbage trucks. Billy Welsh, owner of Welsh Transportation LLC, reported that four 12-volt truck batteries were stolen from his company’s 2006 Freight Liner.

Borough police said when Prospect police had surveillance video of the thefts, they asked for Naugatuck Police Det. Ronald Pugliese Jr.’s help to get footage from the video.

Video captured a white man with dark hair removing the batteries from the vehicles parked in the lot, the warrant states. The video clips show the man walking from truck to truck, with an unusual body posture and walk, it shows.

That distinct walk made him stand out, Comeau said.

According to the warrant, Naugatuck Det. Paul Markette, who was previously assigned as a school resource officer at Naugatuck High School when Bioski was a student there, viewed the video and identified the man as Bioski.

In his written statement, Bioski admits to taking 10 batteries from garbage trucks, the warrant states.

Wolcott police had nine separate cases from May 20 to June 4, where 31 batteries were taken from trucks, police Capt. Domenic Angiolillo said. Police set up surveillance in the area, and Officer Thomas Daddona arrested Bioski after he spotted him on Tosun Road, pulling into a commercial place with his lights off. His car fit the description of the suspect’s vehicle believed to be involved in the larcenies, he said.

That night, Bioski was charged with possession of burglar’s tools and criminal attempt at larceny. He later was arrested on a warrant charging him with numerous larceny charges, Angiolillo said.

In Naugatuck, police had a reported theft of batteries from vehicles at a business in the industrial park, said Lt. Bryan Cammarata, police spokesman. The suspected vehicle involved had collided with property on site, he said.

Damage on Bioski’s car tied him to the theft at the business, Cammarata said.