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Officers from the Darien Police Department responded to Pembroke Road on Monday, Nov. 8, where there was a report of a stolen backpack leaf blower that had been taken from a work truck over that afternoon between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
The incident came two days after a similar incident was reported on Deerfield Road, police noted.
In the former incident, a dark-colored sedan was seen pulling up to the truck on surveillance cameras, police said, at which point a suspect was caught taking the leaf blower and fleeing in the vehicle.
According to police, Darien detectives searched recent pawn transactions and located one of the leaf blowers at a Norwalk pawnshop matching the serial number.
When contacting the pawnshop, police investigators said that an employee indicated that they also had the second leaf blower, and that they were both sold by Christopher Pomponi, age 56, of Norwalk.
Investigators noted that video surveillance from the pawnshop showed Pomponi drive to the shop in a dark sedan that matched the original sedan seen pulling up to the truck.
Police said that the pawnshop transaction receipts were on the same date of the thefts and time-stamped within close proximity of the thefts, and a warrant was issued for Pomponi’s arrest on Thursday, Nov. 18.
On Monday, Nov. 22, Pomponi was arrested without incident and charged with two counts of fifth-degree larceny. He was released on a $35,000 bond and scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Dec. 6.
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