Branford Man Arrested in Series of Catalytic Converter Thefts

BRANFORD, CT - A 29-year-old Branford man has been charged by Guilford police in connection with a series of theft of catalytic converters from parked cars. Over the past few weeks there have been scores of similar thefts in several shoreline towns - including Branford.

Guilford police arrested Jeremy Ghiroli, 29, of Branford. He was charged with two counts of larceny in the 6th degree and was being held at the Guilford police station in lieu of $3,000 bond. Madison police also charged Ghiroli with criminal mischief for damage he allegedly caused to victims' vehicles in their town.

Guilford police said that the thefts have been taking place in commuter and train station parking lots. The suspect(s) had been cutting the converters from the underside of the vehicles during daylight hours while commuters were away from their vehicles.

At recent Board of Police Commission meetings in Branford, Police Chief Kevin Halloran said the Branford train station has had a slew of similar incidents happen in the past few months.

On Monday, a member of the Guilford police department, while looking for the vehicle of the suspect, found the suspect vehicle and the suspect and found that there were four recently cut converters that the suspect, Ghiroli, was attempting to hide.

The officer also found a battery powered saw located under the seat of the suspect's vehicle.

Shortly thereafter, Madison police identified a vehicle parked at the Madison train station that had its converter cut out. A short time later a second vehicle at the train station in Madison was also identified as having its converter taken.

Madison police have linked Ghiroli to those thefts.

Ghiroli is slated to be arraigned this afternoon.

Guilford police said that at the time of the arrest, only two of the four recovered converters have had their owners identified. If you or someone you know has fallen victim to this type of crime, please contact the Guilford police at 203-453-8061 or your local police department. Anyone with information about these incidents over the past several weeks is also encouraged to call.