Police: Man Breaks into Parked Car Overnight, Steals from Estranged Wife

Police say a husband estranged from his wife told them that he became angry with the idea that she was spending the night with someone else, so he smashed a window of her parked car and stole items from it.

The estranged wife told police she didn’t want the man, 39, arrested, but by then police had evidence and even the man’s confession, so they charged him, according to police.

Darien police gave this account (an accusation not proven in court) of the matter:

Martin Espejo of Livingston Avenue in White Plains, NY, broke into his wife’s 2008 Mercees Benz when it was parked in the lot at 36 Old Kings Hwy. S. The woman told police that she parked it there at 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, and the next morning at 10a.m. she came back to see a window smashed and several items stolen,

The items stolen include an iPhone 5s, valued at $150; Gucci sunglasses, valued at $300; a brown Banana Republic coat ($250); a debit card and her driver’s license. Police checked and found no other vehicles parked nearby were broken into.

Police looked at the video surveilance records of the parking lot from Baywater Properties, which owns it. The video showed a four-door white Jeep Wrangler driving around the lot.

When the Jeep was described to the victim, she told police her husband drove that kind of vehicle. The surveillance video showed a man getting out of the Wrangler, walk toward the victim’s car and then walk back to the Wrangler, carrying what seemed to be a coat in his hand, then leave the lot.

Police called Espejo, who admitted he went to Darien and broke into his wife’s car. He used a rock, he said. Having his wife out with someone else was too much to handle, he said.

According to a quote in the police report, Espejo said, “It was a stupid reaction, and I’m an idiot” for breaking in and stealing the items.

He said he threw the coat out on the highway because he assumed it was a gift from her boyfriend.

The victim said she didn’t want to press charges because she thinks highly of her husband. She said she believed his actions were unplanned and that he was only acting out because he was jealous.

But police decided they should charge Espejo anyway, and they thought they had enough evidence even if the wife did not cooperate in the prosecution.

So Espejo was charged with third-degree burglary (a felony) and fifth-degree larceny (a misdemeanor). He was released on a promise to appear Nov. 17 in state Superior Court in Stamford. His next court date is Dec. 23.