Two New London men, Jason J. Diem, 27, and Scott J. Sales, 24, were charged with burglary, theft, possession of burglary tools and criminal damage to property.
At 6:15 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, New London Police Officer Nick Kamba and Sgt. Casey Fields were dispatched to the 600 block of South Pearl Street in response to an alarm.
When the officers arrived, they found an open door. They cleared the building, but located nobody inside.
At 8:26 a.m. that same morning, Fields met with a resident of the 300 block of East Hancock Street regarding a burglary.
The Hancock Street resident said he had been up at 4:30 a.m. to let out his dog when he noticed the garage door was slightly open. He thought nothing of it, until later when he discovered the electical wire to the door had been cut and drills, tools and extension cords were missing.
While Fields was at Hancock Street, Kamba had gone back to Pearl Street, because the alarm had gone off again. He saw two men outside the building wearing hooded sweatshirts, backpacks and gloves. He took them into custody.
The two men were identified as Diem and Sales.
Sales’ backpack had copper tubing and wiring, while Diem had a hunting knife in his belt.
Diem lives near the garage which had been entered.
Police executed a search warrant at Diem’s residence, where they found copper wiring, extension cords and two drills they belive had been stolen from the garage.
Authorities also seized syringes and a straw with white powder residue.
According to the criminal complaint, Sales told police he and Diem have drug issues and may steal to support their habit.