Stolen New Canaan SUV Recovered in Waterbury, Teen Arrested

Waterbury Police have recovered the 2006 Range Rover stolen this week from a Ponus Ridge driveway and arrested a local man following a brief chase on foot, officials said.

At about 5 p.m. Wednesday, Officer Daniel Fitzgerald of the Waterbury Police Department spotted and recognized the license plate on the black SUV that had gone out earlier in the day as a car stolen out of New Canaan, according to Waterbury Police Lt. Mike Slavin.

As the officer approached the car, parked in a grocery store lot, he saw 19-year-old Kenneth Hofler get out and start running, according to a police report.

Fitzgerald during an ensuing foot chase that led through several yards in the neighborhood saw Hofler toss a set of keys away, and the officer recovered them, Slavin said.

Hofler was charged with second-degree larceny, third-degree criminal trespass and interfering with an officer.

The arrest came within hours of a report that the SUV had been stolen from a driveway on Ponus Ridge some time overnight Tuesday to Wednesday—a night that also saw more than a dozen complaints of cars broken into throughout town.

New Canaan Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said he had confidence that the SUV would be recovered and that the department’s detectives are working on the connection between Hofler and a possible group of criminals who hit New Canaan earlier in the week.

“I knew we would make an arrest at some point, and I am also certain that the arrested persons are responsibility for the majority of the vehicle entries and thefts” earlier this week, Krolikowski said.

The SUV was unlocked with its keys inside the car at the time it was stolen, police said. Krolikowski is urging residents to lock their vehicles after removing valuable items, and to never leave their keys inside. He also has told residents to report any suspicious persons or activity to police, at 203-594-3500.