WOODBRIDGE -- Early Wednesday morning, the owners of the Woodbridge Firearms Trading Post received an unexpected call at home. It was their security company alerting them to a breach of the building, just after 3am.
When they arrived at their store, a heavily damaged Volkswagen Passat, which had been backed through their front entrance and brick wall, was sitting inside the business.
Police say, based on preliminary viewing of surveillance videos supplied by several businesses, there were either four or five perpetrators that exited the store, at 28 Selden Street, after stealing as many as five guns.
After running the license plate of the car used to gain entry, it was learned the vehicle had been stolen from a location in New Haven. Surveillance video also revealed that the robbers, who were all masked and gloved, jumped into a dark colored sedan, which sped away from a neighboring parking lot.
Approximately 30 minutes after the gun store heist, a car fire was reported near the Ansonia-Seymour line. Woodbridge police say Seymour police are assisting in investigating whether the car that caught fire was connected to the Woodbridge incident at the store.
The owners of the store, Fran Klos and Mike Majewski, said their store, like other gun shops, is set up so that their cheaper items are displayed closest to the front door to avoid losses of their most expensive inventory in a robbery, like the one that played out Wednesday morning.
The owner of Amity Bike, located in the same retail plaza as Woodbridge Firearms, said this morning’s incident brought back memories of the time one of his previous stores was hit by a smash and grab.
“It’s a sad thing and I just hope that they didn’t get too much product in the hands of criminals,” said Guy D’Aniello, Owner of Amity Bike.
The owners and police confirm that the type of guns that were stolen would not yield big money if they were sold on the street.
The plaza is located just north of two Wilbur Cross Parkway entrance ramps.
“I think when you are near a highway, it’s good for business,” said D’Aniello. “But, it’s also good for criminals that want to get away quickly.”
The New Haven office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting in the investigation.