Accused Car Thief Charged A Month Ago Makes Another Visit To South Windsor And Gets Caught: Police

SOUTH WINDSOR, CT — A man facing multiple charges in South Windsor from an arrest about a month ago was back in town Wednesday as part of another stolen car incident, police said.

Roger J. Czupryna, 25, of East Longmeadow, MA, was charged this time around with reckless driving, violation of a traffic control Signal, larceny of a motor vehicle (2nd offense), fifth-degree larceny (two counts), sixth-degree larceny (two counts), illegal theft of payment cards (12 counts) and interfering with police, according to an arrest report.

At 9:27 a.m. Wednesday, the SWPD responded to the area of Route 5 and Scantic Road on a plate reader alert that a stolen motor vehicle was entering South Windsor from East Windsor, according to an arrest report.

Officers were able to locate the vehicle, which was being driven recklessly on Sullivan Avenue, including a run through a red-light at Sullivan Avenue and Troy Road, according to an arrest report.

Officers lost sight of the vehicle before receiving another alert from a plate reader indicating the vehicle had used the access road to Lowes and Target from Buckland Road, according to an arrest report.

Officers located the vehicle unoccupied and parked in the corner of the Target parking lot and blocked it in, according to an arrest report. Meanwhile, surveillance cameras at Target provided officers with a description of the suspect, who was located inside the store and identified as Czupryna, according to an arrest report.

A search of the stolen vehicle located money from a burglary in Massachusetts, stolen tools from another burglary in Connecticut and 12 stolen debit cards from several other burglaries in Massachusetts, according to an arrest report. Czupryna was taken into custody and held on a $250,000 surety bond, police said. He was to appear in Manchester Superior Court Thursday, police said.

Police said they had no idea it was Czupryna Wednesday until he was cornered at Target.

But he is known to law enforcement locally.

On April 1, he was charged via a warrant with conspiracy to commit burglary in the third degree, possession of burglar tools, third-degree criminal mischief, conspiracy to commit larceny of a motor vehicle, sixth-degree larceny, and failure to appear in court.

The warrant was served in connection with a November 2022 incident in which SWPD Officers responded to an address on Main Street for reports of an attempted burglary into a
shed to steal a four-wheeler and a dirt bike.

According to the warrant, the homeowner was alerted to the attempted theft by security cameras and officers interrupted the attempt. The suspects, believed to be three, fled into the woods, leaving behind evidence that included items that were in a vehicle abandoned near the scene, according to a warrant.

Czupryna was identified because of the evidence, according to a warrant.