Burglary Suspect - Driving Stolen Car From Darien - Arrested In Greenwich: Cops

GREENWICH, CT — A 35-year-old Stamford man, who was arrested in 2016 for alleged Facebook threats about killing police officers, was arrested by Greenwich police on Aug. 25 for allegedly threatening a local man with a knife and breaking into vehicles, according to authorities.

Kurt A. Vanzuuk, of Pacific Street, was charged with:

• Robbery, second degree
• Illegal Storage of narcotics
• Burglary, second degree
• Burglary, third degree
• Larceny, third degree
• Larceny, sixth degree
• Criminal mischief, third degree
• Criminal attempt at sixth-degree larceny

According to Greenwich police, an Almira Drive homeowner allegedly spotted Vanzuuk trying to break into a vehicle on the side of the house at about 5:15 a.m. The homeowner confronted Vanzuuk and chased after him until Vanzuuk allegedly pulled out a pocket knife and threatened the man, at which time the man went back home and contacted the police.

Officers soon found Vanzuuk in the area, based on the homeowner's description of him, and when they questioned Vanzuuk, his answers were "evasive and inconsistent," which led to the officers taking him into custody.

Greenwich police said Vanzuuk is not only suspected of the attempted car burglary on Almira Drive, he is also a suspect in several other break-ins in the area, including vehicles on Chapel Street and a residence in the Pemberwick area.

Additionally, Vanzuuk allegedly drove to Greenwich in a Nissan that had been reported stolen out of Darien, and authorities in that town were notified and confiscated the vehicle.

Inside of the stolen car, police found "electronics, backpacks and lots of miscellaneous property" that is believed to have been stolen from other vehicles.

"The property seized in this arrest will be shared with other jurisdictions that could help them with cases of theirs," said Greenwich Police Lt. David Nemecek.

Vanzuuk was held in lieu of a $200,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on Sept. 8.

In July of last year, Vanzuuk, who was living in Norwalk at the time, was charged with inciting injury to persons after he allegedly wrote that the man who ambushed and killed several Dallas police officers was a "hero" for his actions.

"On July 8, 2016, the Norwalk Department of Police Service Detective Bureau received information about threatening social media messaging advocating violence against police officers," wrote Norwalk Police Lt. Terrance Blake in a statement. The current status of this case was not known. "Detectives located the posts on Facebook and identified the author as Kurt Vanzuuk. The posts indicated that the Dallas shooter was a hero and called for police officers to be killed."

Photo of Kurt Vanzuuk, left, from the 2016 Norwalk arrest, and on the right from the Aug. 25, 2017, arrest by Greenwich police