A CT man was involved in 26 brazen burglaries, including ATM thefts. He’s headed to prison.
A Connecticut man was sentenced to eight years in prison this week for a series of commercial burglaries and attempted commercial burglaries, officials said.
Santos Colon-Gonzalez, 26, of New Britain, was sentenced by Judge Julia DiCocco Dewey to eight years in prison followed by five years of special parole for his role in 26 burglaries and attempted burglaries between July 2020 and September 2021 throughout Connecticut during which ATMs were stolen in some of the crimes, according to a statement from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
Colon-Gonzalez pleaded guilty in Middletown Superior Court on Oct. 31, 2023, to a charge of corrupt organizations and racketeering activity, the DCJ said.
Four other New Britain men also pleaded guilty to similar charges in connection with the burglaries, according to the judicial department. They included Nelson Colon-Davila, 23, who was sentenced on Oct. 18, 2022, to 10 years in prison, suspended after three years served and five years of probation; Rafael DelValle, 26, sentenced on April 25, 2023, to 15 years, suspended after seven years served and five years of probation; Luis DelValle, 24, sentenced on Aug. 15, 2023, to 15 years, suspended after five years served and five years of probation; and Joanberto Rivera, also 24, who was sentenced on Jan. 26, 2023, to 15 years in prison, suspended after five years served and five years of probation.
According to court records, the men burglarized and attempted to burglarize more than 100 businesses in Middletown, North Branford, North Haven, Milford, Farmington, South Windsor, East Haven, Glastonbury, Meriden, Hamden, Naugatuck, Fairfield, Ansonia Newington, Prospect, Portland, Waterford and other municipalities.
Officials said the masked burglars would reportedly drive to the businesses in a stolen vehicle with tinted windows usually late at night or in the early morning hours and use pry bars to break in. Within one to two minutes, the burglars reportedly would steal cash from registers, lottery tickets and ATMs.
“Several of the burglaries and attempted burglaries would occur on the same night within minutes of each other,” according to the DCJ.
Michael A. Gailor, State’s Attorney for the Judicial District of Middlesex said he praises “the cooperative efforts of the police departments around the state that investigated the crimes and highlighted the work of the Middletown Police Department that assumed the lead in the investigation,” the agency said in the statement.