Judge terminates teen’s probation following alleged car theft

STAMFORD — A state Superior Court judge terminated a local 19-year-old’s pretrial probationary program on Wednesday after, police say, he allegedly stole a car in Stamford earlier this year.

Mykel Bryan stood before Judge Bruce Hudock in handcuffs at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday as he learned that he would no longer be permitted to continue with the accelerated rehabilitation program following an January arrest.

Bryan was granted the pretrial probationary program in August as part of an agreement with state prosecutors in connection to a string of local home burglaries that ended in a struggle with one of the homeowners. If Bryan had successfully completed the program, he could have had the various felony charges he faced dropped.

As a part of the agreement with prosecutors, Bryan also entered a conditional guilty plea to second-degree burglary. That plea became binding after his arrest. Bryan could now face up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000 when sentenced.

On Wednesday, Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Moran asked that sentencing be delayed until at least April 24, to give her and Bryan’s attorney, Jared Millbrandt, time to review the circumstances surrounding his latest arrest.

According to an arrest warrant, Bryan was seen on camera along two others abandoning a car that had been stolen from a Minor Place residence in Stamford on Dec. 3.

Bryan was arrested by police later that day wearing an outfit that matched the one worn by one of the three people on the video, the warrant said.

Bryan was charged with first-degree larceny of a motor vehicle. He is being held on a $100,000 bond.

While Bryan’s attorney did not object to the early termination of the pretrial probation program on Wednesday, he did ask Hudock to terminate the program “without prejudice” — meaning the matter could be readdressed in the future if new facts came to light.

“Yes, he was arrested, but there could more to the story,” Millbrandt told Hudock, who later granted the public defender’s request.

In August, Moran agreed to reduce two counts of firstdegree burglary to seconddegree burglary, which allowed Bryan to be eligible for the accelerated rehabilitation program.

Per the agreement, Bryan had to avoid any new arrests, in addition to maintaining employment or schooling.

At the time, Millbrandt said his client was mindful of the opportunity that the state had given him, adding that his brief stint in jail following his arrest in February 2022 had a deterrent effect on him.

“That’s not a place he wants to go back to,” Millbrandt said at the time.

Sgt. Sean Scanlan said officers responded to a Liberty Street home around 3 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2022, after dispatchers received reports of people struggling with an individual who had entered their home.

Scanlan said a person later identified as Bryan, who was 17 at the time, was located near the home with “keys to numerous cars, a check book and other miscellaneous items.”

An investigation tied Bryan to three home burglaries on the West Side and multiple attempted car burglaries, Scanlan said.

Bryan was charged with three counts of first-degree burglary and one count each of third-degree robbery, fourth-degree larceny, fifthdegree larceny, sixth-degree larceny, criminal attempt at second-degree larceny and criminal attempt at third-degree larceny.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on April 24.