Police: Suspects linked to home burglaries

Dereck Ramirez, 21, of Bridgeport, and Gabrielle Collazo, 23, of Greenwich, were arrested at Westfield Trumbull Mall on Thursday and identified as suspects in two burglaries that were reported on Kermit Street and Rome Street in Norwalk earlier that day, police said.

NORWALK — Two people caught shoplifting and making purchases with stolen credit cards in Trumbull last week have been connected with several burglaries that happened the night before in Norwalk, police say.

Dereck Ramirez, 21, of Bridgeport, and Gabrielle Collazo, 23, of Greenwich, were arrested at Westfield Trumbull Mall on Thursday and identified as suspects in two burglaries that were reported on Kermit Street and Rome Street in Norwalk earlier that day, police said. Bond for each was set at $150,000.

Norwalk police said they responded to Kermit Street around 7:20 a.m. Thursday for a report of an overnight residential burglary. Police said they were then notified around 8:15 a.m. about another burglary that occurred overnight on nearby Rome Street.

The Kermit Street residents said their home was burglarized while they were sleeping, police said. The Rome Street resident said items had been removed from their vehicle and two suspects were seen on their Ring camera trying to enter the backdoor of the home, police said.

Investigators tracked the suspects to locations in Bridgeport and Trumbull, according to police. Officers with the Norwalk and Trumbull police departments arrested two persons of interest, later identified as Ramirez and Collazo, at the mall later that day, police said.

Trumbull police initially reported officers responding to the mall for a report of credit card theft found Ramirez and Collazo in possession of shoplifted merchandise as well as several stolen credit cards.

Ramirez and Collazo were charged with interfering with a police officer, multiple larceny offenses and multiple credit card theft offenses, according to police. Ramirez was also charged with several weapons offenses. Police said a handgun reported stolen in Florida was found inside a stolen car in the mall parking lot. Police said the car was reported stolen in Stamford.

Police said Ramirez and Collazo are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.