Rocky Hill Car Battery Bandits Caught In West Haven: Police

WEST HAVEN, CT — A father and son are accused of stealing car batteries from Walmart in Rocky Hill and West Haven, according to police. West Haven Police made the arrests late Monday night after working in conjunction with the Milford and Rocky Hill police departments. At about 11:15 p.m. on Monday, the departments worked together with the investigation of theft complaints from Walmart regarding numerous vehicle batteries.

A monitoring company was currently tracking a GPS unit that had been installed on a car battery outside of Walmart in Rocky Hill in an attempt to combat a recent rash of car battery thefts, according to West Haven Police. (To sign up for Rocky Hill breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

Police said the battery was stolen Monday night and the GPS was tracked to Walmart in West Haven just after 11 p.m. West Haven Police Department dispatchers received real time updates for the location and a motor vehicle stop was conducted on a U-Haul van at Center Street and Union Avenue.

Police said the van was determined to contain numerous stolen car batteries along with the stolen GPS unit and burglar tools.

A Walmart manager confirmed to police that a theft occurred at the West Haven store on Monday night.

The two occupants of the van, Peter Burwell Jr., 46, of Center Street in West Haven, and Peter Burwell 3rd, 25, of Quinnipiac Avenue in New Haven, were both arrested and charged with larceny, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, possession of burglar tools, and motor vehicle charges.

Peter Burwell Jr. also had outstanding warrants, police said. Both were held on bond.

The van was impounded and a large amount of stolen items were seized as evidence, according to police.

Pictured: Peter Burwell Jr., 46, of West Haven, and Peter Burwell 3rd, 25, of New Haven / West Haven Police Department