A 13-year-old boy hid in the attic of his North Haven home while two intruders tried to break in, then left his house and targeted two others in the neighborhood, according to police.
Police said the teen ran upstairs and called 911 when 18-year-old Devin Cruz and 23-year-old Andrew Vermiglio attempted to force their way inside his home on Hartford Turnpike early Thursday afternoon.
When the suspects had no luck getting into the teen's home, they left the property and tried to break into an empty house down the street. According to police, the suspects fumbled with a locked window, then pried open a screen door on the back deck but couldn’t get inside.
Meanwhile, investigators had arrived on scene and were searching the neighborhood. K-9 Officer Zeus, a 4-year-old German Shepherd, tracked the suspects’ scent from door to door and helped authorities catch them outside a third home, police said.
The first witness identified them as the men who tried to break into his house, and both suspects were arrested at the scene.
Vermiglio and Cruz were each charged with criminal attempt to commit second-degree burglary, two counts of criminal attempt to commit third-degree burglary, conspiracy and risk of injury to a minor.
They were held on $25,000 bond and arraigned in Meriden Superior Court.
