Young car burglars amassed thousands in stolen goods, including a gun, police say

Southington police have arrested two people, one a juvenile lockup escapee, who they said had about $2,800 in cash on them and items stolen from unlocked cars across the state — including a gun.

Garrett Gibbs, 20, of Meriden Road in Waterbury, was charged with first-degree larceny and carrying a pistol without a permit, police said. A 16-year-old was given a juvenile summons for first-degree larceny.

According to Southington police, the two were arrested late Sunday afternoon after an officer spotted a black Audi wagon with multiple occupants in it, some wearing masks. The officer recognized one unmasked occupant as a known car thief.

Police said the Audi had been stolen, but its owner had not yet discovered it was missing. The same stolen car also had been spotted at the scenes of multiple larcenies.

The officer alerted the Southington Auto Theft Task Force, who found the unoccupied car at the Meriden Mall and alerted Meriden police. Before city officers arrived, the task force members saw three suspects walking toward the car, carrying shopping bags, police said.

They approached the three and detained them. While talking to one suspect, later identified as Gibbs, an officer noticed something heavy weighing down his sweatshirt pocket. It turned out to be a Keltec .380 semi-automatic handgun that had been reported stolen from a vehicle’s glove box in July, police said.

A search of the stolen Audi turned up purses, wallets, handbags and key fobs along with other items stolen from unlocked vehicles across the state, according to police. The items the three had bought at the mall had been paid for with cash.

The juvenile had $2,063 on him and Gibbs had $736, they said.

The 16-year-old, who police believe was earlier driving the stolen car, had been reported missing by Milford and state police after escaping from a juvenile detention center Saturday, police said. He was taken to the juvenile detention center in Bridgeport after his arrest.

The third person, an 18-yearold, had no contraband on him and was released, police said.

Gibbs’ bail was set at $300,000 and he is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 29, court records show.