Waterford police charge four in attempted theft of ATVs

Waterford — Police have made four arrests over the past month in conjunction with the attempted theft of all-terrain vehicles from Motorsports Nation in April, according to an arrest warrant affidavit and court records.

Police have charged Trevor Robles, 19, of West Haven; Stephen Verity, 29, of West Haven; William Higgins, 19, of West Haven and Nicole Berg, 26, of Shelton. Each was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny, criminal attempt to commit first-degree larceny, and risk of injury and impairing the morals of a child.

At 2:34 a.m. on April 27, two police officers saw a Budget rental box truck in the parking lot of Motorsports Nation on Cross Road, according to the affidavit. They saw that an ATV and parts had been loaded into the back of the truck, and saw a crowbar, bolt cutters and a screwdriver.

Detective Richard Morgan wrote in the affidavit that evidence showed three ATVs were being removed from a rack that was positioned closer to the truck. The owner of Motorsports came to the store and confirmed the truck didn’t belong there and the ATVs were being stolen.

While checking the area, officers saw a Dodge Ram truck leaving the Regal Waterford parking lot across the street, the affidavit said. Officers identified those in the truck as Verity, Berg, Robles, Higgins and a juvenile.

Police found that their stories “did not make any sense, and it was evident that they were not inside the movie theater watching a movie,” the affidavit said, and a canine track went from Motorsports Nation to the Regal Waterford lot. Police said the total value of the ATVs and parts was $41,999.

Police then determined that the Budget truck, valued at $40,000, had been stolen from Party City in Branford.

They obtained cellphone records that showed multiple conversations among the suspects utilizing cellphone towers near the Party City and Regal Waterford on the night of the incident.

Morgan also obtained transcriptions of a Department of Correction call Higgins made, in which Higgins spoke about potentially facing charges relating to a truck out of Branford, the affidavit said.

Old Saybrook police told Morgan that Verity and Higgins had recently been charged in connection with the November 2018 burglary of $94,000 worth of power tools and equipment from the New England Power Equipment store.

Waterford police also discovered that the mother of the juvenile involved had a protective order against Verity, and she extended the order to the juvenile.

The affidavit states that the mother “believes that Verity uses teenage children to assist in his criminal activity because they will not get in as much trouble due to the fact that they are juveniles.”

Waterford police Lt. Timothy Silva told The Day that with the change in how the state handles juveniles, police are seeing more adults using juveniles in crimes.

According to court records, Waterford police charged Higgins on Dec. 20, Verity on Jan. 7, Robles on Jan. 8, and Berg on Jan. 9.