Pair Arrested For Stealing From Darien Embody Fitness: Police

DARIEN, CT — Two former employees of the Embody Fitness shop on Heights Road in Darien were arrested on burglary and larceny charges in connection with multiple thefts at the health food store in January and February. And one of the suspects is facing similar charges in New Canaan where he is accused of stealing from the shop's location in that town.

Darien police began an investigation in late February following a report of a burglary at the Heights Road location.

"Management informed responding officers that on the past two mornings, the cash count for the cash register had been off from the evening prior," wrote Darien police in a statement. "The initial occurrence had been thought to be employee error, but after the second occurrence management reviewed security camera footage from the overnight hours. Seen on the video was an individual entering the store with a key and taking money out of the cash register at approximately [7:30 p.m.] the evening prior."

The cash discrepancies had been detected on multiple days beginning in January, but management had always thought it was due to employee error.

Detectives from both the Darien and New Canaan police departments determined that the two suspects were former employees of the two locations.

Arrested by Darien police were Samuel Marrero and Osvaldo Acuna, who were "found to have burglarized the Darien business on several separate occasions in January and February" of this year. Marrero was connected to three of the Darien burglaries, while Acuna was connected to five of the burglaries, according to Darien police.

"In each incident the suspects used a key to enter the store and remove cash from the register. In working with Embody Fitness management, it was determined that the proceeds from the five burglaries totaled approximately $1500-$1600."

Both suspects - Stamford residents - were arrested on warrants this week.

Acuna was charged with five counts of third-degree burglary; four counts of sixth-degree larceny; and one count of conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary.

Marrero was charged with two counts of third-degree burglary; two counts of sixth-degree larceny; and two counts of conspiracy to commit third-degree burglary.

Both were each held in lieu of $75,000 bail and are scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court in May.

Photo 1: Osvaldo Acuna; Photo 2: Samuel Marrero. Photo credit: Darien Police Department

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