Alert Citizen Leads to Grinch's Arrest in Branford

At 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 22 the Branford Police Dispatch Center received a call from a citizen reporting that a male and a female were stealing UPS packages from Branford Hills Condos.

The suspects were quickly located by patrol officers near Florence Road and Orchard Hill Road, police said.

They were found to be in possession of a pair of stolen boots that were delivered to a nearby condominium, police said.

The suspects removed the boots from the delivery box and discarded the box in the foyer of condominium where they had been stolen, police said.

Officer Amasino and his K-9 partner “Joker” tracked from the discarded box to the location where the suspects were detained.

The suspects were identified as Chantelle Strott, 26, of Madison and Matthew Iamele, 26, of Branford.

Both were charged with sixth-degree larceny and third-degree criminal trespass.

“Thank you to the alert citizen who called to report this theft and making it possible for us to arrest these GRINCH’S who tried to steal Christmas! Working together with the community makes it much more difficult for people to commit and get away with crime,” Branford police said on social media.