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Man With Long Criminal History Caught Peering Into Vehicles At CT School, Police Say

A 43-year-old man is facing an attempted larceny charge after he was accused of peering into vehicles and attempting to enter a vehicle in the parking lot of a Connecticut elementary school.

Fernando Cutanda

Fernando Cutanda

Photo Credit: Facebook/Southington Police Department

The incident happened in the Hartford County neighborhood of Plantsville located in the Town of Southington at South End Elementary School at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, according to authorities.

Officers responded to the school after receiving a report of a man on the property looking into vehicles and becoming argumentative when he was confronted by staff, according to the Southington Police Department.

Police found the man, identified as Fernando Cutanda, walking along South End Road, authorities said. 

Witnesses told police that Cutanda was seen pulling a vehicle's passenger side door handle in a suspected attempt to enter the vehicle and walking around the rear of the school, pulling a bicycle and trying to free it from the bike rack, police reported. 

Authorities reported that Cutanda did not cooperate when approached by the officers, and gave police a false name and birth date. 

After he was arrested, officers found he was in possession of a carpenter's hammer, a broken glass bottleneck, and a broken steak knife blade, police said. 

Officers determined that Cutanda had an "extensive criminal history" in New York and Massachusetts, and he had an active arrest warrant out of New London for second-degree failure to appear, police said.

Police reported that Cutanda was charged with:

  • Sixth-degree criminal attempt to commit larceny 
  • Criminal impersonation
  • Loitering/remaining on school grounds
  • Breach of peace 
  • Second-degree failure to appear (PRAWN) – New London

He was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, April 7, authorities said.

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