Police have arrested three men suspected of car thefts after responding to a report of someone tampering with a motor vehicle at 2:11 a.m. on Saturday.
When police responded to Lettney Place, they found a Honda Civic in the parking lot of 217 Union Avenue, so they went to investigate.
Something was amiss with the registration plate on the Honda and the VIN on the dashboard came back with no information, police said.
Then officers discovered that the VIN plate on the dashboard wasn’t fastened and that it was not the original VIN plate associated with the Honda. They soon discovered that the car had been stolen out of Bridgeport and several officers flooded the area.
Officer Schaefer found one man hiding behind a dumpster at 217 Union Avenue, while Officer Twohill found two more men on Martin Street, trying to leave the area in a Metro-Taxi, police said.
With help from the neighbors, police identified all three men and linked them to the stolen Honda. They also discovered that they had been trying to steal a second Honda that was parked at the end of Lettney Place, police said.
Hector Miranda, 25, David McKinney, 20, and Charles Portillo, 22, all of New Haven, were charged with larceny, conspiracy, interfering with police, trespassing and several motor vehicle charges.
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They were all held on bond.
