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GREENWICH, Conn. When the owners of a Cos Cob home that was engulfed in flames earlier this month returned to rummage through the wreckage to recover some possessions, they instead found the house had been burglarized, Greenwich police said Wednesday.
The family is trying to pull themselves together and salvage anything of value from the house. Its bad enough you lose your home and all your cherished memories, then anything left of value this guy goes in and starts stealing, Lt. Kraig Gray, spokesman for the Greenwich Police Department, said on Wednesday.
The family had been displaced after a fire that began in the garage of their home at 5 Steep Hollow Road on May 18. When the family returned the next day, they reported that more than $10,000 worth of items, including a Plasma television, jewelry, coins and several electronics, were missing from the house.
Investigative efforts led police to interview nearby resident Robert Wolterstorff, 19, of 54 Old Stone Bridge Road.
They could smell smoke coming out of the garage. And when they looked, right there, they could see a 50-inch TV that had been reported stolen, said Gray.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and recovered several items, totaling less than $4,000 in value, that Wolterstorff allegedly stole from the home, police said.
An arrest warrant was obtained, and Wolterstorff was charged Friday with second-degree burglary and second-degree larceny. He was released on $50,000 cash bond and is due in court June 6.
According to Gray, Wolterstorff is the subject of several open cases with the department. He was arrested in February on charges of loitering at a school, criminal trespass, burglary and larceny.
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