Man Charged In 2022 Wallet Theft From Darien Grocery Store: Police

DARIEN, CT — A 53-year-old New York City man who police say is a member of the South American Theft Group was arrested on Nov. 10 in connection with the 2022 theft of a wallet in Darien and subsequent unauthorized purchases.

Rodrigo Aguilera was turned in to the Darien Police Department by Connecticut Bail Enforcement agents. He was charged with second-degree larceny, second-degree conspiracy to commit larceny, four counts of payment card theft, four counts of <$500 on a revoked payment card, and second-degree identity theft.

On Nov. 4, 2022, at approximately 11:44 a.m., police responded to a report of a stolen wallet that occurred at Trader Joe's on the Post Road in Darien.

A woman reported that her wallet went missing the previous day at around 3:20 p.m. while she was shopping in the store, police said.

The woman said she noticed a man following her closely in the store, police added, noting that a short time later, the woman started to receive multiple fraud alerts from her credit card companies indicating unauthorized purchases totaling $2,029 at Walmart in Norwalk.

"Surveillance footage from Trader Joe's and Walmart later identified the suspect as Rodrigo Aguilera, a member of the South American Theft Group, who has a history of similar crimes across multiple states," police said. "Aguilera was apprehended on October 13, 2023, and his involvement in the theft was confirmed through surveillance footage and evidence found on his cell phone."

Darien detectives applied for and were granted an arrest warrant for Aguilera on Jan. 22, 2024.

Aguilera was unable to post his bond, police said. He's scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on Dec. 3.

Police in Greenwich have been investigating the South American Theft Group's possible involvement in several residential burglaries.

A woman who was arrested last week in Greenwich was found with tools commonly used to commit burglaries, police said.