Dalmatian90
12-29-2004, 12:53 PM
It's the *little* details that'll screw you :)
UConn Suspect Tied To Similar Case
December 29, 2004
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY, Courant Staff Writer
VERNON -- A University of Connecticut student who police say planned an elaborate heist on campus is on probation for a similar crime, authorities said Tuesday.
John M. Bjorge, 22, of 1180 New Britain Ave. in West Hartford, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of third-degree burglary, criminal attempt to commit first-degree larceny, and conspiracy to commit both third-degree burglary and first-degree larceny.
Two other men, Andre Moses and Babajide Oseni, both 21, were arrested on the same charges last week in connection with the Nov. 24 break-in at the Gentry Building on the Storrs campus. The three attended Hall High School in West Hartford.
In Superior Court in Rockville Tuesday, Judge Elliot Solomon set Bjorge's bail at $125,000, an increase over the bail set Monday when he turned himself in to UConn police. He remained in custody Tuesday night at the Hartford Correctional Center, a spokesman said. His next court date is Jan. 11.
The seriousness of the allegations, his 2003 conviction on a grand larceny charge in Virginia and his ties to that state contributed to the higher bail.
Bail Commissioner Mollie Wittstein told the judge that Bjorge remains on probation for the Virginia theft.
That case was similar to the one at UConn, Capt. Craig Rich of the UConn police said in a telephone interview. Computers were stolen from a college Bjorge attended in Virginia, Rich said.
The would-be heist at UConn was planned over the course of two to three weeks, Assistant State's Attorney Keith Currier told the judge.
"This wasn't something that was a spur of the moment, bad decision by the defendant," he said.
Early in the morning of Nov. 24, custodians walked in on three people in the middle of a theft. Flat screen televisions, computers, digital cameras and other equipment had been gathered from several locations and were stacked at the doors. Some LCD TVs dangled by straps.
The trio, wearing dark clothing, ski masks and gloves, bolted, leaving some $75,000 in equipment - and some of their burglary tools.
The burglars made two mistakes: they didn't anticipate the cleaning crew entering the building at 4 a.m. during Thanksgiving break, and one of them left a fingerprint on a battery that had been placed inside a police scanner left at the scene, police said.
Police ran the print through a database called the Automated Fingerprint Identification System and found a match with one of the three men.
Although it was the fingerprint that cracked the case, investigators from the UConn police force did a lot of "old-fashioned police work," Rich said.
UConn Suspect Tied To Similar Case
December 29, 2004
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY, Courant Staff Writer
VERNON -- A University of Connecticut student who police say planned an elaborate heist on campus is on probation for a similar crime, authorities said Tuesday.
John M. Bjorge, 22, of 1180 New Britain Ave. in West Hartford, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of third-degree burglary, criminal attempt to commit first-degree larceny, and conspiracy to commit both third-degree burglary and first-degree larceny.
Two other men, Andre Moses and Babajide Oseni, both 21, were arrested on the same charges last week in connection with the Nov. 24 break-in at the Gentry Building on the Storrs campus. The three attended Hall High School in West Hartford.
In Superior Court in Rockville Tuesday, Judge Elliot Solomon set Bjorge's bail at $125,000, an increase over the bail set Monday when he turned himself in to UConn police. He remained in custody Tuesday night at the Hartford Correctional Center, a spokesman said. His next court date is Jan. 11.
The seriousness of the allegations, his 2003 conviction on a grand larceny charge in Virginia and his ties to that state contributed to the higher bail.
Bail Commissioner Mollie Wittstein told the judge that Bjorge remains on probation for the Virginia theft.
That case was similar to the one at UConn, Capt. Craig Rich of the UConn police said in a telephone interview. Computers were stolen from a college Bjorge attended in Virginia, Rich said.
The would-be heist at UConn was planned over the course of two to three weeks, Assistant State's Attorney Keith Currier told the judge.
"This wasn't something that was a spur of the moment, bad decision by the defendant," he said.
Early in the morning of Nov. 24, custodians walked in on three people in the middle of a theft. Flat screen televisions, computers, digital cameras and other equipment had been gathered from several locations and were stacked at the doors. Some LCD TVs dangled by straps.
The trio, wearing dark clothing, ski masks and gloves, bolted, leaving some $75,000 in equipment - and some of their burglary tools.
The burglars made two mistakes: they didn't anticipate the cleaning crew entering the building at 4 a.m. during Thanksgiving break, and one of them left a fingerprint on a battery that had been placed inside a police scanner left at the scene, police said.
Police ran the print through a database called the Automated Fingerprint Identification System and found a match with one of the three men.
Although it was the fingerprint that cracked the case, investigators from the UConn police force did a lot of "old-fashioned police work," Rich said.